The Puzzle Pieces of Diet and Wellbeing
And Mindful Practices to manage the Complexity of Food Relationships to Navigate Changes for Health
Food is a complex relationship influenced by macro, local, and individual levels.
I like to think of food relationships as puzzles.
Each puzzle piece represents our thoughts, beliefs, self-serving practices, and more that support our health and wellbeing in all areas of our life: Mind, body, and Spirit.
Each individual piece serves an important part in revealing the complete picture of WHO we are and HOW we want to show up in our lives.
As we navigate changes in our lives and work towards living EMBODIED, practicing thoughts and habits that serve our OWN wellbeing, we have to sort through the puzzle pieces, connect the ones that are working, try on some that we think fit (only to realize they don’t as we get further along) and sometimes we spend HOURS looking for THE ONE outside piece hidden among all the others.
ALL of the pieces that make up and influence our personal experience and connection to food have to be sorted and put together in a process, just like completing a puzzle.
Sometimes, we look to shift food relationships and it seems easy. You feel ready to give up the extra cup of coffee or are amazed at how seamless it is to add in an extra glass of water or take a 30 min walk. A 10 piece puzzle with fun shapes that make it clear for the brain to place the pieces together pretty quickly. Sometimes we experience those.
But, just like our range of personal experiences, for every 10 piece puzzle, as soon as that one’s complete, we start wading through a 5,000 piece puzzle that creates complexities in understanding just where or how to even begin. We get it all figured out, and then there’s the next puzzle to complete- just like our evolving states as humans, food relationships may continuously evolve and change as we age and just like puzzles, we move onto tackle the next one.
Some people like to start with the edge pieces, others start with certain color or sections, and some just lay out the pieces and observe in hopes of finding the pieces that fall into place.
The ultimate goal is the same of completing the puzzle, but we all have our own method to get there. AND THAT’S OKAY.
Science has come a long way in understanding foods that tend to optimize health and those that may not, however, it’s important to recognize the limitations in generalizing food for everyone.
There is no ONE SIZE FITS all when it comes to identifying and working to practice food habits that serve your specific needs.
Mindful Practices are a great way to build harmony for stress + lifestyle management while you navigate these shifts towards wellbeing!
So, let’s break down all the ways in which our food choices are impacted or influenced. But first, some facts on health and wellbeing to gain a better understanding as to WHY we want to lean into the challenge of changing old narratives with food that no longer align with us as we learn,grow, change.
Food is COMPLICATED.
As humans, we need food to live, but an imbalanced diet can lead to health conditions and diseases that impact our wellbeing. Nutrition deficiencies are a major global issue. Less common in the US and other developed countries (~10% of the US population), however with the increased availability of “empty calorie” (low nutrition density) foods, poor diet may lead to increased numbers. We must also remember, that widespread data helps us to see trends on a large-scale, but this data may vastly different among specific populations and communities.
While food is a common abundance in the United States, it is not equal.
Highly processed, high fat, and high sodium foods are often more accessible and affordable than whole foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Organic foods that have more regulations are also pricier. Transportation challenges and food insecurity may make healthy food inaccessible even if it is available.
These factors disproportionately impact racial minorities, low-income, and other underserved populations in the United States.
Healthy diets are an integral part of optimizing health and reducing risk of disease. Poor nutrition is a PRIMARY contributor to morbidity and mortality.
In the United States specifically, nearly 75% ! of adults are overweight or obese (1.9 BILLION + 650 MILLION, respectively)*, 60% have one chronic health condition, and more than 40% have two or more. Chronic disease is THE LEADING cause of death and disability (CDC). Nearly 10% will struggle with an eating disorder - that’s 28.8 million Americans (https://anad.org/eating-disorders-statistics/).
*source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
Learning to shift food patterns in order to improve your health and wellbeing is SUCH A POWERFUL ACT OF SELF LOVE.
However, people often don’t understand the process that is involved with unlearning old patterns that may be deeply rooted from childhood, past generations, and institutions.
Let’s break down the different ways in which our health is influenced in relation to diet.
The levels in which our food habits, thoughts ,and behaviors are influenced on 3 main levels:
MACRO: The macro level includes policies, social-cultural norms, and marketing industries that idolize certain diets or lifestyles associated with weight and beauty . Food supply is both directly and indirectly impacted by politics, economics, and agricultural practices.
These are “how the hand is dealt” sort of scenario. How things are in current state. Think of these influences as the puzzle itself. The puzzle you buy comes with a specific image, number of pieces, etc. and its not going to work to try to match them to someone else’s puzzle. The current policies in place, systemic disparities, societal pressures shape the “whole puzzle” picture of how we think things are supposed to be
An example of this are the national and state nutrition programs. There are programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) that help to provide food and support to those who are struggling with food security. There are eligibility requirements, however, so while it helps certain populations who meet the criteria, other food insecure people remain unable to access additional food resources such as these.
LOCAL: The environment, education, access to resources, and other factors influenced by where or how you live make up this category.
These are your edge pieces. The outlines of your inner puzzle pieces. The interrelation aspects of your community.
This could be the number or type of grocery stores that are accessible. Fast food restaurants, employment opportunities, education level, and access all impact how we understand nutrition and help to decide food choices.
INDIVIDUAL: This includes the family environment. The cores, beliefs, values and habits that you developed or were instilled upon you as you grew up and experienced the world. Also, interpersonal relationships between others. Our individual assessment of perceived advantages and disadvantages to cost, overall impact on health, mental status and enjoyment are all reasons we may think through when deciding what we want to eat. In addition, hunger, stress levels, and internal feelings and emotions, and mental state can impact food decisions.
These are all the puzzle pieces individually laid out. While they are a part of the larger puzzle itself, these are the pieces we can start to view one by one from WITHIN in order to begin to shift our lifestyle to better serve our health.
I often hear statements like…
“I know what I need to change, I just need to do it”
“It’s easy, I know someone else who changed that habit no problem”
“Just add x,y,z foods into your diet”
“just don’t eat it then”
But the problem is, when we view acknowledging and shifting food relationships to better align with our health and wellbeing, we neglect to acknowledge the intricacies of the other aspects of our lives that may have influence on our ideas, emotions, and behaviors with food. We can recognize our feelings toward the larger issues and how we can work to facilitate change with advocacy and action, but you still need the inside pieces to be able to get there- to identify HOW you are going to make the change, WHY, and the ways in which you will shift your lifestyle in order to do that.
So, when we look at these above quotes, and we start to assess the deep unconscious behaviors and thought patterns we’ve taken into our identity, we can use mindful practices to center the mind, body, and spirit in order to work towards rewiring new ways. Acknowledgement of the things that no longer serve us is the first step.
This might feel like A LOT to take in. Take a pause if thoughts or feelings are coming up for you that are not positively engaging you in this material. We’ll get to the actual practices shortly.
If you’ve made it this far and just know you aren’t quite ready to tackle these shifts on your own (WE ALL NEED SUPPORT !!!) I have been there, and I’m here to support.
Click the link below so we can connect and get you started with 1:1 empowerment sessions where I will help you work through any challenges as you transform your life!
OK so, How do we do it?
Any change creates a stress response, which can be a good thing in support of helping us stay focused and get over the disruption that unfamiliarity causes the body.
EVEN if those changes are towards a more truthful, healthy version of yourself, the change feels uncomfortable, which is why we so often revert back to old ways and find ourselves repeating old patterns. Implementing yoga practices are going to help stabilize the Central Nervous System (CNS) in order to provide clarity and discipline as you work to sustain these changes for the long-term. Yoga and mindfulness offers us the ability to tune into the impact FOR OURSELVES, so that we can make the changes that best suit us, rather than feeling influenced by our external environment.
5 SIMPLE PRACTICES THAT CAN HELP YOU RELATE AND UNDERSTAND INFLUENCES ON YOUR DIET PATTERNS IN ORDER TO CHANGE FOOD RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH YOGA
Start a morning routine
Bringing consistency in your daily life takes practice. Whether in the morning or evening (or both) I invite you to develop a routine that supports consistency. Just like brushing your teeth every day, tuning into your bodies need for nourishment can become a small, but impactful part of your day! A regular morning routine is great for preparing for the day with simple acts of self-care like:
-drinking warm water and lemon to start your digestive system and your day
-nourishing your body with breakfast
-reducing or eliminating caffeine to support anxiety/stress levels
Not only will this help to regulate hunger cues and digestion, but you’ll start to wake up feeling excited to nourish your body for whatever your day holds! A few short minutes can organize your day and plan out meals.
Build a gratitude practice
Start a gratitude journal or practice mindful meditation on food source and the ability to be able to have nourishment from the Earth in order to support our higher goals and dreams of life. A food relationship begins within the self. We practice gratitude for the food we have, the food that provides us with life. Many times we feel shame, guilt, or other emotions around what we lack in our health or diet, reinforcing this idea that we are unworthy. As we look to make change, finding gratitude in your efforts to honor and heal your whole-being DESERVES to be recognized.
Words of Affirmation
Words of Affirmation are statements made in the present tense that communicate self love, respect, and appreciation for yourself.
It can be challenging to see your body change. Speaking words of affirmations to bring appreciation for what the body does provide to us can help to build self- love. Sometimes the self-sabotaging words in our head lead us to believe we are taking on too much, we don’t have the capacity to change, or we don’t deserve to change.
I like to write down words of affirmation on a sticky note and place it on my bathroom mirror so it’s one of the first things I see.
DISCONNECT
When is the last time you ate without distractions ? No phone, TV, music, or other device that takes you away from being fully present to our food experience. Rushing off to a meeting or eating through lunch, food often becomes a last priority. Carve out time in your day JUST for food. This allows us a deep connection to our experience as we eat, helping us to slow down and identify the practices we want to keep or remove.
Yoga asanas
Yoga is a great form of exercise. Low impact exercise such as yoga or walking can not only help physical digestion, but it also supports emotional wellbeing, and can release tension and stress in the body that may be clouding your ability to make or stick with changes. Completing just 30 minutes daily can give a major boost to your overall health and wellbeing.
In just a few short minutes a day, you can begin to make changes that can have big, BIG shifts on your self-love and confidence as you navigate better understanding your health needs, influences, and current situations in order to create even more alignment in embodying health and wellbeing through food. Change is hard and it takes time. Be patient with yourself and you GOT THIS ♡
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