As I dropped my child off for school I saw a good “foodie” friend that I love. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “They’re doing testing and they asked for healthy snacks. It’s hard for me to provide healthy snacks!” she laughed.
“You should give them my card,” I told her, “and tell them they should ask for enjoyable snacks.”
When we focus on “healthy” and deem certain foods to fit this criteria & others that don’t, we damage the food relationship. I often ask clients to create a list of “foods I should eat” and “foods I shouldn’t eat.” Their “shouldn’t eat” lists always make my mouth water. So many tasty, nourishing foods end up there. Avoid them - No!!
Together, we go through the list of foods talking about all the benefits they give to the body. Chips often show up. Chips provide many nutrients including potassium which decreases blood pressure. I’ve looked at the label on the chips bag in my pantry and have yet to figure out why people demonize this enjoyable food.
Pizza also shows up, and I love to share the complete nutrition provided in pizza. Carbs, protein, fat - it’s all there, and pizza even has some vegetables. Complete, balanced, tasty nutrition.
One of the problems is that we often limit the word “healthy” to physical health, primarily what you eat & how much you exercise. The truth is that health is so much more than these two things.
Health includes many parts of our lives. Use the following to expand your view of health, & let go of the “what I eat & how I move is the only thing that makes me healthy” mindset. That view is likely damaging your health more than helping it.
Social health is a huge determinant of health. Do you have good friends, close relationships, people you can call when life gets tough, or when you want to have a little fun? It is far more important to go enjoy a meal with friends than to stay home because you won’t be able to stick to your eating plan.
Professional or job health is also important. Do you enjoy the work you do daily, or is it causing you so much stress that it’s impacting you negatively? What you eat may be less important than the joy (or lack of it) you feel all day at your place of employment.
Intellectual health encourages stimulating mental activities, learning to sew, finishing a crossword, rebuilding a motor, staying up on current events, learning to speak a new language. These are all important to health and are just as important as eating or movement.
How about sleep...don’t stop reading now!! If you’re losing sleep in an attempt to exercise more, what is the trade off? Sleep does impact both physical and mental health through improving our immune system, improving cardiovascular function, better memory and stress management.
And there’s more...spiritual health, emotional health, self-compassion, having fun, enjoyable eating, joyful movement. These all impact our health.
Today, make peace with food and focus on improving health in ways that impact you other than eating a perfect diet. After all, I’m truly concerned about the people who eat perfect diets. When perfect eaters walk into my office they’re usually struggling with components of their mental health that can’t be seen on a plate.
Do you want to work on your overall health with someone who gets that shaming you for your choices with food & exercise aren't the answer? Reach out - my greatest hope is for everyone in south central Kansas to have an enjoyable, peaceful relationship with food. It truly is life changing!
--Sincerely Paula, the food peace dietitian