VIP Q+A: My Thoughts on Food Combining, Self-Acceptance/Improvement, and Drawing Less Attention to Yourself Around Food
March 8, 2018
Good-morning!
Today I am here with a new VIP Q+A post where I answer questions that readers – YOU! – have sent in. Thank you so much for asking! You guys make these posts possible for me.
Q: How do you love yourself the way you are, while simultaneously striving to grow, develop, and be open to new ideas/ways of thinking?
A: My opinion is that the key to growing, is loving yourself where you are AND never fully “arriving.”
I believe there’s always room to grow. So I ask you…
Where do you want to go now?
Though I love who I am and I am proud of where I’ve gotten, I am always looking to grow, improve, and move in a forward motion.
I love change and I love growth.
Appreciate today and get excited for the growth of tomorrow.
To start, ask yourself these three questions:
- What do I appreciate about where I am TODAY?
- What areas of my life do I want to improve, from here?
- What small step(s) can I take TODAY to move forward?
I believe acceptance and change can exist simultaneously.
Q: What are your thoughts on food combining while eating intuitively? Food combining makes a lot of sense to me, but I can also see it as another form of restriction.
A: Totally! I can see where you’re coming from.
It depends on what YOUR personality is (speaking to all of you reading this who are like – YEAH! I’m wondering the same thing for eating x, y, or z way).
I’ll use myself for example…
There are several ways of eating that make sense to me. One being “eat more fiber.”
However, if I were to put all of my focus on “eating more fiber,” I know myself… and this would pull me away from listening to my body.
Which in turn, would lead to that deprivation/lack mentality which manifests itself in underlying, subtle nuances like craving more sugar, having a hard time stopping when I’m full (because there’s some underlying feeling of restriction), or feeling like I didn’t do a good job when I don’t get “enough fiber” according to what’s being recommended.
What I would do instead, is eat intuitively and keep it in the back of my mind that I’d like to eat more fiber. Which would look like adding more veggies to meals/foods I already eat.
For you, I would experiment. Food combine for a few days and see how you feel with the intention of finding out “Does this lead me TOWARD or AWAY from listening to my body and what works for me?”
There’s is NO SHAME in combining your food if it works well for you. There’s NO SHAME around food my friends. There’s NO SHAME in figuring out what works really well for you, ever.
Q: How can I prioritize between 1) wanting to eat, do, and feel what is best for my body and 2) avoiding cultural stigma or backlash from family and close friends when I explain what I want to do?
A: You are ALLOWED to do what feels good for you. Regardless of your family, regardless of what diet culture says, regardless of what “intuitive eating” says!
The goal in all of what I do is to help YOU find out what works for YOU and to help you learn to honor THAT (with food and non-food areas alike).
I want to share here that you do not NEED to explain your food choices to your family or friends. You also definitely don’t need to volunteer this information, without others asking.
I would encourage you to TALK LESS about what you’re eating and just do what feels good.
If you’re choosing to get something gluten free, don’t announce it. If you are ordering a sandwich and feel tempted to let people know why you’re getting a sandwich instead of a salad, don’t. Just order.
Do what feels good for you and resist the urge to announce it. If someone asks, say “this is what feels good for me” or “this is what sounds good.”
Keep it so simple. Don’t draw more attention to the food, rather, focus on asking people questions like “What have you been up to? What are you enjoying in your life right now?”
The less attention you draw to yourself around food, the easier this will be for you.
That’s a wrap!
That’s it, friends! If YOU have a question you’d like me to answer in a future VIP Q+A post, leave it in the comments below. I LOVE answering your questions, so bring ‘em in!
Want to take the next step in working together?
My March and April calendars are filling up, as tax return season is upon us. This tends to be a busy time of year for me, as many clients sign up for coaching using their returns.
If you’d like to work together I’d love to schedule you for a Discovery Session – fill out the form on this page and I’ll email you a link!