Now I say that tongue-in-cheek because my true philosophy in life is to always in every moment listen to our body and act intuitively from that space.
However sometimes in life there are times where we don’t ‘feel’ like eating but we need to eat and vice versa, where we feel like eating but it’s actually not the best time.
An example of the first scenario would be grief, where someone close to us dies and we completely lose our appetite. We know we should be eating, our body might even feel tired and hungry but we just don’t want to. We don’t feel like it and feel as though we really can’t.
Let’s delve a little deeper, in the case of the second scenario let’s use the example where our normal hunger and urge to eat arises but we are also going through an emotional period.
When we are going through a tricky period, where things are getting on top of us and we feel overwhelmed and stressed normally we switch to auto-pilot with our routine and just ‘keep calm and carry on’. However we are missing a really excellent opportunity to learn here.
This is also the case with our eating, we just fall into whatever pattern is easiest when things get stressful. Maybe we switch to take-out more than cooking at home, perhaps we treat ourselves with more snacks or desserts, maybe we go out for dinner and order the richest, creamiest pasta dish. Whatever it looks like, our body is sending us signals to retreat, to comfort ourselves, to eat more, and we are unconsciously following these signals. We just suddenly find ourselves eating more or eating differently.
It can be so subtle and hard to pick up but we do begin to notice, because those are the times where we start feeling ‘fat’. We feel more lethargic, and less enthusiastic about life. These are the times where it seems like your body just wants more more more.
These are the times we need to stop and take notice. Our body is super clever and attentive, it is trying to give your brain what it wants to make it happy. Your brain is sending out stress signals so your body is telling you it wants comfort to make your brain happy.
This is a malfunction, the cravings are actually not coming from your body’s signals at all. This is where we need to take some time to do some self-reflection. So that our minds can relax and so can our bodies so we stop this auto-pilot of comfort eating in its tracks.
In that moment where we decide to have a take-away meal rather than cooking for the fifth time that week instead we need to just take a pause. Stop and ask yourself how you are feeling, this is the time to not eat. This is the time to be in a quiet place with yourself, to stop the auto-pilot.
When we do this we begin to tap in to what is really going on and stop using food as a way of escaping….even though we didn’t necessarily know we were doing it in the first place!
In order to really understand ourselves and the optimal way of eating for our bodies we need to do a lot of self-reflection. We need to become more conscious of all the ways our eating habits and patterns are formed. This will allow us to see where and when we slip into habits that aren’t actually based on what is best for our body even though it could feel like it.
If you’re feeling confused or struggling please reach out, comment below or email me, hope to hear from you.
Lots of love xx