As most of you know, I’m a proud mama to an adorable little French Bulldog, Maddie. She is just as obsessed with food as I am! One of her favorite activities is going for walks around our neighborhood where she can scope out ‘treats’ (aka searching for disgusting tidbits like dried worms, wet clumps of grass, and bunny poops to eat – unfortunately for her we’re in the suburbs not a city where she would probably find actual food!). I’m of course on the other end of her leash trying my hardest to steer her away from those ‘treats’ but MAN she’s fast and sneaky!!

I noticed one day that there is a common theme between Maddie and my situation above, and what I see with many of my clients: I love Maddie too much to let her eat that crap. Some of it is dangerous for her, but most of it is just gross or bad for her. I want her to eat things that nourish and support her body instead.

I’ve heard many clients have similar thoughts and feelings when it comes to their kids. They try to limit the amount of crap their kids eat, and instead get them to eat foods that will help them stay healthy and grow big and strong. But when it comes to themselves, that logic goes out the window.

What would it be like if we could tell ourselves that we love our body too much to let ourselves eat junk? What would it feel like if that was the motivation behind our food choices instead of negative emotions like guilt, shame, deprivation and lack of willpower?

I think it would be pretty great!  We take care of what we love and what’s important to us. If you love your body, you’re naturally going to want to do things to take good care of it, which in this case will help you make and stick with the healthy habit changes you’re looking to make. It’ll help you choose those healthy foods that will give your body lots of good nutrients and fuel so it can get what it needs to perform for you, to stay healthy for you, and do what you want it to do. 

The reverse is true too, if you’re unhappy with your body, chances are you’re not going to treat it very well and it’s much harder to justify choosing things like an organic apple with Sunbutter versus a bag of greasy, GMO and chemical-filled chips. Think of it this way: you can’t self-hate yourself into self-acceptance. You have to meet yourself where you are and work from there.

Self-love is such an important habit to develop and really commit to.  It’s like the airplane oxygen mask thing – you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Food gives us such a wonderful opportunity to practice self-love multiple times every day.

Still not convinced? Think about this quote: “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Most of us are so busy and stressed doing things for other people, that we forget to take care our ourselves (this includes choosing the more crap-like foods versus the fresh nutrient-packed foods). Our tank then begins to run low…and empties, and we can’t help anyone or do anything! 

And just to clarify – I’m talking about eating junky foods on a regular basis, not the once in a while treat! I’m a big believer in ditching the restrictive diet mentality, the “I CAN’T eat that food because it’s bad!!” and instead using the methods I talked about above to help you naturally want to choose the healthier options. Eating 100% clean all of the time is not realistic at all. So while it’s great if you choose healthier options because you want them, don’t feel bad if you choose to want the unhealthier things sometimes. 🙂

So next time you’re faced with a food challenge try the self-love approach and see what happens. Or think about your kids or my sweet little Maddie, and if you wouldn’t feed it to her, it’s probably best not to eat it yourself.

If you want some one-on-one personalized help to work on improving your relationship with food, shoot me an email!

 
*And yes Maddie really does love green smoothies! I blend together some water, spinach, an apple, 1/2 banana, flax seeds, and coconut oil and give it to her 🙂