how i’m healing my relationship with food + gym

to be completely honest, I’ve had a very poor relationship with food and fitness most of my life.

even still, some days I struggle finding a healthy balance…But, there are some things that I have found that really do help me personally

Step 1

I stopped labeling foods as either “good” or “bad”. I found out very fast that this way of thinking really broke me down mentally. Instead, I’ve started to look at food as fuel or nourishment so that I will have the health and energy to both spend time with those that I love and do the things that I love. I never approached my perspective on food this way until I listened to an episode of Anything Goes titled, “body image & self-acceptance” I won’t write her exact words, but I highly highly recommend going and watching that episode because it was probably the thing that made the biggest difference in the way I look at food

Step 2

Eating a wide variety of foods (including my trigger foods) and pushing myself in a safe environment. This one is BIG for me. I always avoided certain foods because I was uncomfortable with them or they were hard to swallow, etc. But honestly, I have started enjoying a lot more foods ever since I opened my mind to trying new things/retrying things. It is important to me too that I do this first in a safe environment or around people that I love. (For example, one of my trigger foods is a sweet potato. So, I went to my favorite cafe, that I find really safe, and I ordered a vegan street taco with sweet potatoes. I ended up loving it and I barely realized that I was eating out. It’s little things like this that really build up my confidence when it comes to my relationship towards food)

Step 3

I stopped skipping meals and counting calories. I never found counting calories helpful at all, and I found it more detrimental to my mental health. Recently, I’ve started tracking my protein intake instead and it has helped me a lot personally

Step 4

I found foods that I truly love and enjoy eating for the first time in my life. I didn’t realize how much I demonized food until I started to love it. I get excited to eat certain foods now and it really does make a huge difference in my quality of life.

Step 5

I remind myself that it’s okay to have set-backs and lean on my safe foods every once in a while. We all have set-backs, it’s just important not to lose ourselves when this happens.

Step 6

I started healing the relationship that I have with myself and my body. This one is huge. How I saw myself for so long affected not only how I ate, but also how I approached working out. I had such a flawed perception of what wellness SHOULD look like and not what was BEST for me and my health. I've started to learn how to listen to my body and be mindful of what it needs.

I hope this helps any of you who are on the same journey and I am so proud of all of you. It’s not easy and it sometimes seems like nothing is changing–But I can guarantee you one day you’ll look back and you’ll realize how far you’ve come.

I love you guys!

Sarah ♡