Healing Your Relationship with Food and Exercise

Getting started

Throughout this post, we will discuss

What it looks like to have a relationship with food

Understanding your relationship with food, both the  positive and negative parts of it 

During this discussion, we’ll talk about the difficulties you might  face when trying to lose weight and exercise

After that, we will help you understand the relationship you have with food

How fitness coaching can help you heal your relationship with food

Learn what you need to know before signing up for an online fitness program

Enjoy your time

The Struggles Many Women Face With Dieting and Exercise

The average person who weighs normally believes that they are overweight,

People who are overweight believe they weigh too much,

there is something about women and weight

There is something about our bodies that keep us trying to fix them,

I feel like we are constantly worrying about it 

There is always just one more thing to do to be sexy

Exercise one more time

Eat green

Maybe a detox will fix me …those used to be me 

My body will be perfect if I lose more pounds

The lives of many women are restricted in some way

It may be that they feel restricted in some way because they won’t do anything fun until they lose weight

It is always important for them to watch what they eat

The amount of food they consume

They are always concerned about their weight

The way they are viewed by others

Rather than being concerned about how you feel about weight,

 they are concerned about how they should look based on the standards of others.

So they diet in the most gruesome way; it sad to see

Omad

Intermittent fasten

Long walks

Exercise 

All in one day. And we celebrate living like this…..

Doing all that is far from healthy 

It is the opposite of being healthy or living healthy

This leads  down the path of developing a  disordered eating habit

One minute you are starving, the next you cannot control how much you are eating

It hurts to see the amount of miss-information out there

And how little people know about fitness and health

And how do you find the energy to move and the joy to do anything?

Dieting is common, and it can be both helpful and harmful.

people of all weights and sizes are trying to lose weight

so it is not only a fat person’s problem

Dieting and exercise are simple but not very easy to get through if you know what you are doing,

most of our struggles stem from not knowing what we are doing.

Ask yourself these…

What do I know about the diet,

Do I know what I am doing, 

Am I you just skipping meals hoping you will get lean

What does portion control mean to me?

How about the exercise program?

 Are am only taking longer walks to lose weight,

Am I performing harder exercises to feel like I am working hard?

Am I performing exercises named after a body part?

or a cardio-based exercise in hopes that the number on the scale goes down

Do the exercises I am performing feel good to Me?

Does it make sense to me?

Does my body feel good after?

There are lots of questions you can ask yourself, to determine if you are just wasting your time or doing meaningful work 

are you just following a set of rules

Have the diet or exercise programs you have been doing  taught you anything  

do you think the process does not matter?

Or does it matter?

If most of your answers are no, then you are getting all wrong and causing yourself to suffer more than you should

If you cannot make sense of the process, you will struggle

and this will lead you  down the rabbit hole of trying to control your body  and how it looks

Diets work only when you know what you are doing, 

The same goes for exercising

You have to work intentionally to get results because with results you are most likely to be discouraged 

Before you jump on a fitness diet

It is vital to explore and learn about nutrition, not just to confirm what you already know,

learn the opposing principles, explore different food choices, 

How does your body feel

Do you believe carbs are the problem, 

Then study why carbs are the best thing, get your view on the two ideas…

Don’t stick to what is popular or what you have been sold, and make it the sole focus of your journey.

Explore different options. T

that’s where you find what works for you.

Trying to lose fat is not the problem;

 the problem is who you become in the process

you dont have to make your life harder than it already is

The Dieting Dilemma: Why Dieting Often Fails

Does diet fail you, or are you the reason the fail?

Why do you think the popular diets we know fail a lot

fail in the sense that we cannot stick to it very long

as much as I would love to blame the diets,

it’s the person doing it

how much do you know about food and eating

are you just going with random ideas here and there

a simple question to ask: do you understand the concept of energy in, energy out

more like calorie in, calorie out

does it make sense to you when applying,

it will make sense if you understand that very low calories mean you get hungry and can not stick to a diet for a long time

and that is the main reason diets fail 

have you explored your food long enough to know what quantity of food you need?

Some of the reason diets fail a lot is a lack of knowledge and behavioral change 

that is why you hear people say it worked, but when I stopped dieting, I gained weight

one of the major reasons you gained weight is that you didnt build any new habit

And for you to build a new habit, you have to know which skill you are building  and make it intentional

Another reason is that we are scared of change and scared of losing what we have always known, 

the process of dieting for many provides a moral compass

or a need to feel like they are putting on work towards a healthy life and not need to change

we are stuck in that cycle, and this is still a matter of what you know, 

If you know that a restrictive diet is the reason you keep overeating, you will not need to keep doing that to yourself

Restrictive dieting, in this sense, means being on a diet that leaves you constantly hungry and wanting to eat all the time 

If you are on a diet, when you see food, you lose yourself in it until you are done eating, then it is not necessary to be on it.

The Need For A Different Approach

Constant diets have their psychological impact,

like how we perceive our body image, how we approach food and the world

While a lot of people, both overweight and normal weight, are trying to lose weight, a lot of the time we are, it hasn’t made us any better

we still over-eat and feel shameful about it

That is why we need a different approach,

shining a light on what we know about your relationship with food and exercise and moving towards healing it

when you adopt a neutral approach to food, dieting is easier

or maybe you might not want to diet anymore

you have to be willing to heal first

How to start building a different approach: Strategies

Meditation and awareness helps you become more aware of your thought,

when we constantly overeat, we dont notice we are feeling something,

it mostly often after we are done that we realize that we have finished all that food, distracting ourselves with the soothing feeling that food brings

meditation helps you build mindfulness around what you are doing. 

The voices in your head are a lot, and they can stop you from hearing your thoughts and allowing you to feel.

Practicing at least %5 mins every day takes you from reacting to your emotions to responding instead

Journaling

Journaling is  really good; I know we hardly know what happened before you started craving food; we just find that we crave some food and then eat them, 

But what triggered that craving in what we are yet to discover

It is ok to be hungry, but what about craving when you are not hungry

Are you bored?

did you not sleep last night?

Are you feeling anxious?

Do you have a busy day tomorrow?

Has work been overwhelming and busy?

did you have a stressful day?

when last did you allow your self feel your feeling?

sometimes we don’t know these things, 

we are using food to numb ourselves, 

we dont let ourselves feel, so we are numbing with the food

we try to stay positive no matter what,

One thing about my home country is that when there is a feeling of unease in the air

 one thing we  do is eat,

we take every opportunity to eat,

to get that feeling of safety

Have I mentioned that food has a way of making us feel safe, 

It soothes us in a way alcohol or smoking soothes a lot of people 

And most of the time, these things go hand in hand

You crave more food after you have smoked or had something to drink

understanding what role food plays for you through journaling will help you understand why you undereat and over-eat

Why would you rather stay hungry, or why would you eat until you are numb

Read more on this here

just understanding where you are, what stories you are telling yourself

will help you on your journey to building your relationship with food

If you want to learn more about why you want to heal your relationship with food, first listen here; this will help you build on what you know,

 start from where you are

it will help you recognize what you are doing with food and exercise

and then lead 

Download your free journal here 

Understanding Your Relationship with Food and Exercise

When you hear the word exercise or food, what comes to mind, (take a moment to think about this)

I come from a culture that celebrates overeating and hardly exercising 

a lot of people in my country see overeating as a sign of wealth

eat a lot of fancy food, and you are rich

it’s a status thing

talk about how much you love food, and you are applauded

in the case of exercise, we see it mainly as a tool to shed the excess weight gain from overeating, and if you hardly have enough food to eat, then you will overeat any chance you get

It is like a culture where you belong with the cool kids when you say you hate exercising and love eating

we all love food,

food has been a sign of connection for us since we all were babies, 

so it is not for a select few

It is important to remember that food is so much more than that for a lot of us

food is soothing and helps us with relaxation

that is why we crave food when we are stressed out, heartbroken, angry, or happy

food and emotion go hand in hand

knowing this

first, identify where you are with your relationship with food,

what does food mean to you?

what does food do for you?

What does exercise mean to you?

can you say no to food,

not only when you think you should be dieting

example, you are offered a meal, and you are not hungry,

can you say oh no, I am not hungry,

or do you say oh, it’s food? How can I ever say no to food?

You would never know until you try exercising outside of a weight goal,

Can you get the benefits of exercising

and eating in a way that nourishes your body

Definitely, you can, you have to allow yourself to go through the whole journey

The Importance of Having a Healthy Relationship With Food and Exercise

By building a habit of exercising and eating in a way that nourishes you,

life becomes a little bit more beautiful,

when you have a good relationship with food, you are not preoccupied with the thought of food

and you don’t worry when you eat

 which translates to less worry about your body

you do not have to wear your hate for your body like a badge of honor

I see that a lot where people openly talk about hating their bodies unless it comes down to a body size

Truly it never makes you feel better, and it only makes things a bit more difficult

How a negative relationship between food and exercise can hinder weight loss and wellness

Having a negative relationship with exercise and food hinders your weight loss goal,

because you find yourself either medicating with food and exercise

trying to apply discipline and control

and if you are not listening to your body

you will not know the toll all this back and forth with food and exercsie takes on your body

and when it breaks down, you either end up overeating or undereating

and not able to exercise, then you are less healthy or fit

and we are not talking about fat loss anymore

you have to get healthy first

More details in my podcast here

You can overeat sometimes and that would be fine but when done all the time then it is a problem!!!

The Role of A Health and Fitness Coach in Healing Your Relationship with Food and Exercise

A qualified Coach is important in building a relationship with your food, body, and exercise,

a good coach will support you with your eating and exercise

they are there to guide you, and

teaches you what you need to know to be able to build a healthier relationship with food, exercise, and your body

a coach provides the map, and you do the work

it only works when you do the work!!

A good coach will recognize where you are improving with your habits without shaming you for struggling

A good coach creates space for you to be open, communicate and share more about their problem

a good coach recognizes that you are human,

we all have bad days and will support you through the hard days and still get things done

a good coach will not try to fix you,

they acknowledge your pain, hold space for you, and recognize the common suffering

A good coach will not shame you for your struggles and shame you for not having the willpower.

look out for these qualities when looking out for a coach; you can’t hate your way into changing your body

Above all they keep you accountable, you probably can’t do this by yourself 

How a fitness coach can help in healing the relationship between food and exercise

it is fine. You dont want your fat around your midsection,

but talking critically to yourself or shaming yourself

taking note of how much you talk badly about your body will help you recognize why you feel about your body

how much you are always checking your body out

where uncomfortable cloths

constantly weighing yourself

talking about how you ate like a pig

watching the word you use on yourself will take you a step further

stay away from coaches that call your body name, or tell you that you need to fix a particular part of your body

Fitness Coaching: A New Way to Stay in Shape

It is easy to say you can handle these things on your own, but at the same time, these things can be quite complex,

why not get a professional to guide and take a more strategic approach

you can’t think your way into a good relationship with food

if you struggle with your body,  food, and exercise, 

it is really important to seek guided professionals if you have access to it

another way is to read books recommended by others, listen to podcasts of the people you trust 

Our move eat love coaching method helps you recognize where you are with your relationship with food and moves your forward to what you need to be,

it is a do it once,e and you never have to do it again,

It is not about another diet or fitness program, and it is a guide to all you need to know about nutrition, body, and exercise

don’t self-diagnose yourself,

I encounter these a lot Listen here

Consider a 3-6month coaching option; this way  you have built a strong foundation to keep you going for the rest of your life

Conclusion

You have to acknowledge the importance of understanding where you are with food, exercise, and your body,

The importance of knowledge and application,

The struggles with diet and healing your relationship with food and your body

if you need help to heal your relationship with food, exercise, and your body reach out for a one-on-one coaching session, or you can opt for the group coaching option or check out our nutrition course 

Remember, we are all doing our best with where we are and what we know

knowing this, it is important to want to know more so you can make better decisions that get you to where you are going to

Remember health is not just going to the gym, It is so much more than that, It is all of us and more