Why care about eating healthy happily?
— February 6, 2023 —
After I published my book, Savor: Quit Dieting, Relax About Food, and Eat Healthy Happily, I started to panic—I wondered who cares about eating healthy happily and why would anyone read a book about it? I started to ask everyone if they thought it was important. Fortunately, the answers allayed my fears, reminded me how I got here in the first place, and in fact, made me more convinced that the happily part is just as important as the healthy!
We all know that eating healthy is a smart choice. It helps maintain an ideal weight, reduces the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, and it improves digestion, sleep, and energy levels. So, shouldn’t the end justify the means? Why would it matter if we do it happily or not?
Because, to put it simply, happily is so much better! If you can choose to do something with joy or without, isn’t the answer obvious? We eat multiple times a day, every day, and each time it’s an opportunity to do something good for ourselves. If we eat feeling like we “have to” or “should” choose the healthy option, it provokes a sense of dread, a feeling of sacrifice—it makes a natural, necessary act turn into drudgery.
Eating healthy unhappily isn‘t sustainable. When you’re not happy about what you eat, it feels like a chore, a punishment. If you feel deprived by making healthy food choices, you’re not going to want to continue and are likely to give up. Approaching healthy eating with a positive attitude and finding ways to make it enjoyable can help ensure that it becomes part of your lifestyle and a way of eating you can maintain over the long term.
Change your relationship with food. For good.
So much of our time socializing is based around food. If we are shadowing those experiences with negativity about what we’re eating or not eating, what’s the point? We go to dinners with friends, eat with our families, share lunch with colleagues. Why bring negativity to these potentially joyful events? Happy dining experiences are a chance to make strong, lasting connections and enjoy the moments of our day. They’re a way to create meaningful experiences, intimacy, and happy memories. If you’re burdened by the act of eating, it puts a strain on these experiences and that interference extends to other areas of your life.
Stressing out about food is a burden that often lasts longer than the meal itself. Unhappy eaters start thinking about what they’re going to eat prior to the meal, struggle through the eating experience, and then are plagued by guilt or regret afterwards. This puts a lot of stress on your mind, creating a negative mindset that can overshadow everything—relationships, events, memories—and can diminish the positive things that occur in our lives.
Enjoying the foods we’re eating and our dining experience is a natural mood booster. It reduces stress, increases feelings of well-being, boosts energy and improves digestion. So, if you’re not eating healthy happily, it’s time to make a change. What’s getting in your way? Check out my book Savor for some answers or contact me for a free complimentary session to get started on shifting your relationship with food. Life is short...why not enjoy every bite?