Hello friends! I hope you're having a great Wednesday! I'm just coming over here to write a blog post on food freedom! So, what does this mean exactly?
I know a lot of people typically associate food freedom with promoting "unhealthy" practices or simply not caring about our overall health. Let me tell you, those ideas are wrong! Why? Because our overall health also includes our mental health!
I know that we all have recommended our patients to eat "healthy foods" over those "unhealthy choices". But when you really start reading more about intuitive eating and mindfulness, you realize that this "old school" practices will not help people out, they will only promote a stressful relationship with food.
Additional to the stress, the fact that we are constantly teaching people to diet and restrict certain foods and calories, is NOT a sustainable approach.
The typical cycle that we see is that people start a diet, juice cleanse or something similar, get bored because they are incredibly hungry since these methods are not supplying the necessary nutrients, then get back to their regular lifestyle and gain the weight they had lost. Does this sound familiar? YES!! I have had this experience with sooo many people!
All I'm trying to say is that when we talk about health, we shouldn't see it with an expiration date because several studies have proven that all these Yo-Yo diets increase your overall mortality! We certainly don't want that, right?
So, what I want to show all of you is that not only our physical appearance has an important role in health. Sure, it's nice to look all fit, but in order to get there, what extreme measures are you going to take? Are you going to go into a very low calorie diet? Are you going to overdo your workout? Are you going to do a juice cleanse? The list goes on!
Food freedom in this case will mean that you know that on a regular basis you can include nutrient dense foods but if you have a social event or a simple craving you will fulfill it without the added "guilt".
Sooo many products around are sold with that specific phrase: "Guilt Free" because they are "healthier" than the others. Let's just take that guilt away and enjoy food for what it is! Food is involved in a lot of social interactions and it ranges from weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. Are we really willing to miss all of these events because we are on a diet? Absolutely not! All the memories that we will make on these social events are priceless! Believe me, you will regret this afterwards!
I have been in your shoes before, I would lie if I didn't admit that I have felt guilty because I ate something "unhealthy". I bet many people have felt this way before. But it's important to take care of our mental health too! I know that feeling, especially when we can't take control of the food options, it makes it so hard to choose what to eat and the anxiety begins. But you know what? There's a solution to this problem and you can work on it! It takes time, for sure to finally understand that food has no moral value and that we are ALLOWED to eat things that may not be the most nutrient dense options! You know what else? It's all good!
As you will see on these pictures you can notice that I am including lots of veggies, plant-based proteins, all the nutrient dense goodies. But you can also see that in other occasions like trips or celebrations I just ate the food that was served or I just wanted to eat what I was craving for!
Life is about enjoying it and creating memories. Don't miss out on the good and fun stuff just because there might not be a "healthy option"!
If you need help trying to figure this out, I can work side by side with you!
Send me a DM or an email to andreamarro75@gmail.com
Hope all this information is useful to you!
Enjoy your Wednesday!
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