SELF...and FOOD...

In my journey with weight loss, weight management, and just living a healthy lifestyle in general, I have discovered that I cannot live a healthy lifestyle and listen to my kid-self. I often tell people that we must be the adults, and treat ours inner-selves like kids. That is because inside each one of us is that kid that wants to do what they want to do, when they want to do it, and want to have what they want to have when they want to have it. As this mentality is not good for children, neither is it for adults. Especially when it comes to food. We must put our inner-SELF in submission to the ADULT in us. Now, America may tell us to self-indulge, have selfish pleasures, become self-absorbed, and put self first. Though there may be occasions where these ideas would be appropriate, none of them are appropriate when it comes to food. Now, I am not saying you should not enjoy food. On the contrary, it should be a most enjoyable experience. What I am saying is for you to redefine what it means to “enjoy food.” Enjoying food and what it can do for or against your body comes down to three basic principles.

The three things that we must always practice in relation to SELF and FOOD are self-control, self-discipline, and self-denial. There are different ways to elaborate on these topics, but I have chosen my own definitions of how these may be implemented within your life so that you may still “enjoy food” while keeping “self” in check. Pay attention closely…

SELF-CONTROL

With self-control and food, you are basically eating food, but eating it with some type of restriction. You are “controlling” how much food you eat. So how do you control how much food you eat? By always eating a little less food than what you normally would eat in that setting. Another way to practice self-control would be to eat less of a specific food you are used to eating more of. For example, I used to love French fries (still do). I would always HAVE to have large fries. But in order to practice self-control, I started to subject myself to the smaller fries. In this way, I was eating less fries. Whatever it is (food in general or a specific food)--- eat less of it. Even on days you feel the need to splurge, eat less than you would when you normally splurge. For example, if I wanted to splurge and go to a nice restaurant and get a high fat, high caloric meal, I would drink water instead of getting 3 strawberry lemonades or sweet teas. Again, here, I am taking in less than I would normally take-in in this particular situation or setting. This principle should be applied 24/7, 365 days a year.

SELF-DISCIPLINE

With self-discipline and food, you should discipline yourself to not eat certain foods for a limited amount of time.  Many do this when they go through a detox, or take certain foods out of their diets for a certain amount of time to cleanse the body. Depending on the food, this could be good or bad for the body, however, the principle to remember here is that you must not become a slave to any food. If there is any food that you feel is causing you to crave more and more of it (and it is not a fruit or vegetable), you may need to stop eating it for a limited amount of time. This especially goes for those who feel like they can’t live without certain sweets, or those who feel they can’t live without eating bread at every meal. Whatever it is, you should practice going without it for a certain amount of time. This principle should be applied at least 3-5 days out of each month.

SELF-DENIAL
Lastly, with self-denial and food, you are just flat out saying you will deny yourself from eating certain foods. This is what I did when I gave up pork.  I haven’t eaten it in close to 6 years (to my knowledge). Everyone should have at least 2 foods or food products that they will absolutely not eat (for me it is pork, and catfish). Now, I want us to be realistic here. I am not talking about certain fruits and vegetables that you don’t like that YOU SHOULD EAT. I am talking about giving up one food that is NOT GOOD FOR YOU. It could even be a cooking practice that is not good for you (like deep frying). Whatever the case, you need to give something up and decide you won’t pick it back up for the rest of your life (or at least you will try not to). Usually, this comes with education. Some have read things about aspartame and have vowed never to eat anything containing it again. Some were addicted to McDonald’s hamburgers, but read information about them and gave them up. So have read information about hot dogs and how they are made and have vowed to never eat one again. Whatever it is, you know it is extremely bad for you, so give it up. If you can’t, try putting it in the self-discipline stage first, and then progress to the self-denial stage. Again, with this principle, you are denying self from eating certain foods FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Just like the 8 R’s given in another post, these 3 basic principles are key to living healthy, losing weight, and managing weight loss. However, these principles can be treated as 3 STAGES. If you fail in an area in relation to your eating, start over from stage 1 (self-control). Consistency is the challenge here (and in every area of our life). But know that you are worth the challenge…Until next time…

-Jenelle N. Robinson