3 Food Habits To Improve Your Relationship With Food

It’s not uncommon for people to have an unhealthy relationship with food at one point or another in their life. And while many people won’t take this to an extreme, there still are things that you can and should do to ensure that you control the way food fits into your life and not the other way around.

To help you see how this can be done, here are three food habits to improve your relationship with food. 

Reframe How You Think About Food

One of the biggest reasons why people develop an unhealthy relationship with food is because they start to fixate on the labels of some foods being “good” and some foods being “bad”. 

If this is something you find yourself falling victim to, Sarah Klein, a contributor to The Huffington Post, reminds us that no food is intrinsically “good” or “bad”. Food is just food. That’s why, in order to have a healthier relationship with food, you should try to start thinking more along the lines of all foods being fine to eat in moderation rather than only eating certain foods and completely avoiding other foods. And since complete avoidance of certain foods rarely works in the long-term, this way of thinking will not only be helpful for you mentally, but it will help you physically as well. 

Be More Mindful When Eating

What can often lead to you developing an unhealthy relationship toward food is if you frequently eat without really thinking about what you’re doing. This can cause you to overeat or not give eating the attention it deserves. 

To combat this, Katey Davidson, a contributor to Healthline.com, suggests that you try to be more mindful when you’re eating. To do this, try to sit down in your dining room when you’re eating rather than standing up or eating on the go. Then, you should take the time to really savor each and every bite you’re taking while thinking about things like taste and texture. This will help you eat slower, recognize when you’ve had your fill, and appreciate all the care that went into preparing your food. 

Stop Using Food To Reward Or Punish

When you were younger, did you ever have to skip dessert if you didn’t eat all of your food or were naughty? On the other hand, do you ever try to convince your kids to do something so they can have a treat? If so, you’ve likely experienced using food as a reward or punishment, which can cause someone to have an unhealthy relationship toward food. 

To break this habit, Daryl Chen, a contributor to Ideas.Ted.com, advises that you find a way to reward or punish that isn’t related to food at all. By doing this, you’ll be able to untether a lot of the emotions that you might have tied to food. 

If you’re wanting to have a better relationship with food, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you accomplish this.