At Healthy Meals, Inc, 80% of our new clients tell us in their enrollment questionnaire that they want to achieve a leaner body. The common theme that follows is that most people like exercise, but struggle to change their relationship with food. They enjoy getting out and playing tennis, hitting the weights, or even walking to burn calories as part of their lifestyle. However, it’s the diet side of the lean-body equation where most of our clients struggle. This why so many of our clients search for, “daily diet delivery” or “customized diet plans in Kansas City” and find us!
We often hear things like:
- “I get plenty of exercise, I just love food.”
- “I eat out a lot during my workday or for business meetings”
- “Food is my weakness.”
- “I love food too much.”
- “I can be good with my diet for a while, but then I crave my nightly sweets, chips, etc.”
Achieving and maintaining the body you want is 20% exercise and 80% diet.
Most of us know or have heard this ratio. Moreover, we all know exercise is good for you, but just how good? The benefits of exercise are limitless, but the Mayo Clinic lists the top 7 here.
As important and beneficial as exercise is, what, when, and how much we eat is ultimately what makes or breaks our efforts in getting lean.
Understanding your relationship with food
Before you can work toward a good relationship with food, it’s important to pinpoint the signs and symptoms of a bad relationship with food.
A good relationship with food has less to do with the quality of your diet or the types of food you eat, but moreso how and why you choose the foods you eat.
When you improve your relationship with food, you’ll notice a lot less stress and worry around eating and more food freedom.
Here are the signs of a bad relationship with food:
- Feeling guilty about eating.
- Avoiding or restricting foods that are “bad” for you.
- Developing a long list of rules surrounding the foods you can and cannot eat.
- Relying on calorie counters or apps to tell you when you’re done eating for the day.
- Ignoring your body’s natural hunger cues.
- A history of yo-yo dieting or following the latest diet fads.
- Feeling immense stress and anxiety when eating in social settings due to fear of what others may think of your food choices.
- You find yourself restricting and/or binging food.
How improve your relationship with food
It’s one thing to hope for change — and it’s another to actively try to make change happen. Healthy Meals, Inc is a big step in the right direction if you’d like an assist. Not only will not have to worry about eating healthy, portion-controlled meals and snacks, you’ll also learn what consists of a healthy diet and that yes…you can have some of those “bad foods or sweets” as part of your diet.
First, remember that you’re your own person. You have your own history with food, your own food preferences, and every right to navigate this journey in a way that suits you.
At Healthy Meals, Inc., we very much know already that every person is different. They have their own history with food, their preferences, their aversions and certainly their physical stats. This all factors in to the regimen we specifically customize for every one of our clients. Moreover…we can adjust the regimen as our client requests or as progression is made. Healthy Meals, Inc. offers a mobile app to help track and monitor our clients’ progression. We are, hands down, Kansas City’s premier diet delivery service offering customized meal plans to help our discerning clients change their relationship with food, and help progress towards their physical or weight loss goals.
Here are a few tips that we believe in whether you’re a client of HMI or not…
- Give yourself permission to eat. Over the top restrictions on eating set you up for negative feelings of hunger and deprivation.
- Eat when you’re hungry. Listen to your natural hunger cues so you can regulate your appetite and better manage your food intake
- Practice mindful eating. Learning to slow down and savor the food you’re eating can help you learn which foods you genuinely enjoy and also become more in tune with your body’s natural hunger and fullness regulation.
- Welcome all foods into your diet. When you label a food as “bad,” you automatically put it on a pedestal. Usually, people call foods “bad” when they taste good and aren’t very nutritious (e.g., high in sugar, fat, salt). Yet, as soon as you tell yourself you can’t have something, the more you’ll crave and want it.
The bottom line
Your relationship with food is personal, unique, and requires regular work to keep it healthy. Though it may seem impossible to fix your bad relationship with food, it’s possible to get to a state in which food no longer controls you and instead fuels your overall well-being.
