This upcoming year, let’s all resolve to trust ourselves. When it comes to food rules, the 2019 “plan” is to have NO PLAN! We do not need rules, restriction and deprivation to tell us what feels good in our bodies.
Body Image: Overcoming The Fixation To Change
Poor body image, and the constant desire to change our bodies, is a common problem among so many people in our culture. With that in mind, I thought I’d share some helpful body image-related mental exercises in this latest blog. Whether you’ve been battling with poor self-esteem and negative body image over a long period of time, or just having one of those “I feel gross” days, there are things we can all do to help adjust our mental state, put things in perspective, and, hopefully, give less power to the cycle of poor body image (and the various ways that often manifests – shame, eating disorders, chronic dieting, compulsive exercise, mood swings, avoiding social interactions).
How to Cope with Emotions (Outside of Food)
If you’ve ever used food to soothe emotion, you’re in good company. Food does work (temporarily) at easing an emotional hurt or pain. Dopamine (a feel-good chemical) gets released in the brain when eating certain foods, providing you with a very real emotional relief. Unfortunately, if you are eating when your body is not hungry (or restricting when your body is indeed hungry), that good feeling may be very short lived (ex. guilt, shame, physical discomfort).