Are You Feeding Your Problems?

Are you afraid of your food?

How many of us have tried “diets” time and time again only to end up going back to binging on junk?

Ignorance is bliss right? Sure, we know we shouldn’t eat junk, but if we don’t know the real reason why we shouldn’t, what’s really stopping us?

If someone in the 1950’s said don’t smoke, nobody would listen. If someone said don’t smoke because smoking has been proven to kill you. Big change right?

How It Affected Me

When the doctors first told me weight loss helps keep IH under control, I didn’t pay it much mind because I wasn’t overweight. When the doctors came back and told me salt causes fluid retention and that headache causing hormones can be stored in your fat cells, I finally understood. It was at that time that I had a genuine fear of bad food and a true passion to burn the fat cells in my body.

Now, when I lost too much weight from being sick and had to gain it back, did that mean I could eat whatever I wanted? No, I needed to make sure I was loading up on the right things that would build muscle back and not fat. I had to balance eating more food than normal and paying extra attention to how I exercised. And I had to do it gradually!

How it Affects You

I’m not telling you to live your life in fear. What I’m saying is to be aware of what you’re eating. Maybe you used to have a favorite actor or musician who ended up getting caught doing something wrong. Did you suddenly lose that attraction to them? When you start to really study up and research the foods you eat and how they affect your health, you might be surprised (or disgusted) at what you find.

Hormonal imbalances, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stomach issues, insomnia, migraines, all of these can be affected by your diet. You’re either feeding your problems or you’re curing them. In the migraine world, the first thing the doctor wanted to put me on was magnesium and riboflavin – both can be consumed through food!

Depression. Anxiety. Listlessness. Food fuels your mood. Not eating, thinking that will help you lose weight, only slows your metabolism all while lowering your mood. When your mood is low, what do you crave? Junk. Who cares about nutrition at that point. And when you’re eating junk, you’re not leaving room for the nutrients your body needs to get back into its normal rhythm and lift your mood. It becomes a worsening cycle until you finally decide to break that chain.

But you need to decide.

Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Stop jumping on the latest fad diets because you think it’s working for other people. Start learning what your body needs. Your body was designed so intricately and differently from everyone else. Some people do need to cut back on the carbs. Your body might require more of them (the right kind, of course).

It’s a pretty safe bet that we all could use more vegetables and fruit in our diet. I’d even be willing to bet that you need more protein and fiber. Think about what you’ve eaten so far today. Think about what you had yesterday, this past week. If you had to submit those answers to your doctor, would it feel like going to confession? Where could you do better? Pick one area and work on that one. When you’ve gotten it under control, move to the next. Is it consuming too many beverages other than water? Is it skipping breakfast? Late night snacks? Going out to eat?

Educate yourself. Learn your body and find out what it needs. Then you can get rid of all the excess.

So I will ask you again. Are you feeding your problems?