How to Heal Your Relationship with Food

How does a woman define what a "good" relationship with food is? And how does she measure whether or not she's arrived there? Generally, women are aware of when they don't have a great relationship with food because they might have obvious struggles (or more subtle struggles), like chronic overeating, heavily restricted eating, binge eating, general dietary neglect, or leisure time spent ruminating over diets and diet protocols. They might also have psychological hang-ups around eating that involve anxiety when eating out socially, overthinking the diet, losing

The phrase, "healing your relationship with food," implies an injury occurred at some point...

weight and still feeling its not enough, ongoing self-criticism about appearance, perfectionistic tendencies, or inner conflict about how to care about the body but not care so much that it feels vapid or shallow. Or they might carry health anxieties that are hard to quell. There's a lot to sort through!

The phrase, "healing your relationship with food" implies that an injury occurred at some point with food, as we don't often work to heal something that is healthy and whole. There were likely ways of feeling natural and confident around eating and the body that were either never taught/learned, or were eclipsed by feeling something was terribly wrong with the body (or oneself) as one naturally was.

So today, we are looking at a menu of possibility -- some of the areas, that I support clients with, that can truly HEAL a woman's relationship with food.

How to heal your relationship with food

Here are the nutritional dimensions to work with:

• Identifying your ideal relationship with food at this stage in your life

• Learning how to set up your eating and diet during the workweek, evenings, weekends, and during travel or social time so you feel confident, adaptable, and best your best physically

• Implementing skillful practices around macronutrient balance, meal timing, meal composition, fasting windows, appetite regulation, incorporating medicinal foods

• Honoring rhythm, pleasure, & nutritional balance with your eating

Here are the psychological and intrapsychic dimensions to work with:

• Working with the ROOT of patterns of restriction, binge eating, overeating, chronic dieting, "self-sabotage" and the emotional triggers and layers that drive them (you MUST work with healing your emotional world/relational injuries)

• Unburdening the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs around your eating, weight, and health that were shaped by your personal history (and culture at large)

• Learning what needs you are asking food to fulfill, and then actively working to meet your real needs

Here are the body-based dimensions to work with:

• Moving below the neck and actually FEEL how different types of foods and different amounts of food feel in the body

• Learning how to regulate and move with nervous system activation (not just being "calm" all the time, by expanding in range and movement back to baseline)

• Addressing challenges around High Sensitivity (if this trait exists)

Here are the spiritual dimensions to work with:

• Getting in touch with your personal ground-plan, your reason for being here -- in essence, what you are meant to embody and give in the world, and doing so to the best of your ability

• Addressing the deeper dimensions and spiritual lessons your journey with your body and eating are here to teach you.

This is a comprehensive list, though not exhaustive. Each person I've worked with in my career tend to have a few main areas of focus that make a significant impact on their healing.

Remember, there was a point that love and trust was flowing through the body, and hunger and satiation were natural and instinctual. The work is removing the constraints that now get in the way of accessing these things.

With love,

Laura

Reach out to Laura here to inquire about scheduling availability. And here to check out, Heal Your Eating, Laura's 3-month eating psychology training.