I had a meeting with a new client a little while back. So we sat down, and instantly she dumped out all of her food confessions {this happens a lot with new clients by the way, all of the time!}. As if I was going to send her to food jail for craving a candy bar every day at noon, or send her to the cleaners for constantly snacking on crackers. Her head was down, as she shamefully shared all of the truths about her eating habits.
She didn’t know me at the time, she just signed up for the session because a friend referred her to me. She didn’t realize I wasn’t going to judge her or try to fix her or make her think she was “less than” because of the size tag in her jeans – no, that wasn’t me, that was her putting it all on herself so I just gave her the space to release it.
For some reason one little number can carry so much weight.
Trust me, I get it. My goal was to lift her up so she could see herself in all of her awesomeness, and then share some basic facts about her food choices so she could be gentler with herself, understand herself, and make informed decisions about the foods she was eating.
I mean, there was a perfectly logical and scientific reason why she would constantly snack on crackers. Most crackers are processed carbohydrates, and eating just processed carbs creates a physiological reaction in the body that causes us to crave more of them. They are a relatively low (and not to mention empty) calorie food – we can eat a stack and still not feel full, but so high on the Glycemic Index that the body breaks them down quickly, meaning they release glucose rapidly in the bloodstream creating an insulin response.
The Glycemic Index is also impacted by the Glycemic Load, which basically means if you eat 1 cracker, may not be a big deal on the body, but a stack of crackers increases the load, thereby having a greater impact. It can lead to numerous health issues such as diabetes and may be the reason for my client’s lack of energy and feelings of frustration.
We function best and our body performs best when our blood sugar is kept steady.
So, feeling moody? Lethargic? Tired? Hungry? Not your best self? As for my client, this was exactly it – BINGO! She immediately stopped beating herself up with guilt, understood her body better, and began to make a list of snack ideas that would serve her body and life well!
The thing is, food is incredible and is critical fuel for the way we show up and light up in the world – choosing fuels when we’re educated and informed makes decision making so much easier. My client said she had heard crackers weren’t the “best snack”, but since she “didn’t buy into the low carb thing”, she brushed it off. It’s not about a low carb diet or any diet for that matter, it’s about honoring the gift of our bodies and being energized to live life fully, to reach our full potential as human beings {which goes so beyond a number on the scale}!
Here are a couple of questions to consider if you are feeling guilt over food ever, trapped on the dieting wheel of frustration, or just know that you are not feeling your best:
1. Are you eating only for the scale?
If no, I am doing a happy dance with you, now move to question 2.
If yes, identify 3 of your core values, your “anchors”. Realize that eating for the scale is basically saying you value the number on the scale more than any of your core values, and I KNOW that that’s not true!! Focus flipped? Good! Now on to the next question smile emoticon:)
2. Do you understand the affects beyond the scale that your food choices have on your internal body, your organs, and your life?
If no, educate yourself as much as possible on this. Begin simply by asking yourself with every food choice you make, what are the components {or ingredients if it is packaged or pre-made} in this meal/snack? How do these components affect my body?
If yes, and you still are making choices that don’t fill you up and fuel you up healthfully, sometimes re-education is helpful to refresh our hearts and minds and re-inspire decision making. Sometimes it’s something in another area of our life that needs a little love. There have been so many beautiful, amazing, inspiring women who have come to me over the years feeling “less than”. Once we identify our core being, there’s a weight that’s lifted and we can cut the strings that we are attaching to our worth.
I go far more into detail on some of the deeper into all of this in my book, Balance Your Life, Balance the Scale.
Want to delve deep into your own self-discovery? I have a 30-Day BALANCE Challenge that begins Saturday! http://inspiredgirl.net/join-the-challenge .
