If you’ve struggled with your weight or food at all, you’ve likely spent a good number of hours googling different diets, lifestyles, cleanses, and hormones. You know that overcoming food and body issues can be overwhelming and confusing.
Did you know that the first low carb diet was introduced in 1863? Since then it’s made many comebacks under different names with different tweaks, the current version being keto.
The first vegetarian society was formed in 1847. Currently we have Game Changers promoting a plant-based diet and the more politically driven vegans.
What’s my point?
We have been talking about ‘what’ to eat for centuries. We love to talk about the biology of food and weight; the merits and pitfalls of certain types of foods and ways of eating.
One would think that after hundreds of years we would have come up with a consensus right? But no, the debate rages on.
So what have we missed? Why is it that more and more people are struggling with their food and their bodies?
The Triad that is YOU
To overcome, like really-deal-with-overcome, food issues, we must deal with the triad of what makes us human: our mental, physical, and emotional beings. And we must deal with them all at the same time.
It is this triad that makes up YOU. And YOU are unique. YOU bring your history and experience and beliefs to every single part of your life, including your diet*. It’s no wonder that we haven’t found one way of eating that suits everybody. *Note: when I use the term diet here, I mean simply ‘what’ you eat. A cow’s diet is grass.
We’re very comfortable working in the physical sphere. This space feels safe – let’s talk about hormones, sugar, carbs, fats, animal protein, plant protein, leptin, weight… This is where we’ve kept the conversation for centuries.
More recently we’ve acknowledged the mental and emotional parts of ourselves as contributing factors but we’re still not comfortable there. They’re mentioned in passing in most of the current weight loss systems out there. Even if their massive impact on your well-being is acknowledged, they’re rarely addressed with as much focus as the physical. You’re expected to figure this part out on your own. And when it’s not part of the program, it’s left as ‘one more thing’ and we all know how that goes. So we keep on talking about the biology of food and weight.
Just like a stool needs it’s three legs to be strong and present to hold YOU up, so does your overall well-being. If you’re consistently neglecting even just one, the stool cannot hold YOU up.
So the next time that you consider making changes to your diet, ask yourself if you’ll be giving attention to the other parts of the triad as well.
How will you work on the emotional part of eating?
What steps will you take to manage your food habits and external triggers?
And as always, I’m here to help if you need it.
Dedicated to helping you find peace and power with your body,
Kerri
P.S. Have you downloaded your Body Appreciation Meditation yet?
