2. Exploring our relationships with food 3. How might nutrition recommendations create stress? 4. How do we heal some negative relationships with food? 5. Practicing mindfulness Defining “Health” What does “Health” mean to you? What does “Health” mean to you? Health can refer to physical health, mental health, emotional health,
spiritual health, and social health
April is “Stress Awareness Month”, so we are shifting our focus from nutrition and physical health to nutrition and mental health Exploring our relationships with food Share a story about a food that reminds you of home Share a story of a food that brings you joy Describe a “comfort food” Tell me about a food that you have a negative experience with How does stress affect what / how you eat? How do our relationships with food evolve? Infancy
A baby cries when it’s hungry, and stops eating
when full Infancy
A baby cries when it’s hungry, and stops eating
when full
What stops us from continuing to eat this way as we get older?
Relationships with food during adulthood How does your relationship with food evolve as you get older? Relationships with food during adulthood How does your relationship with food evolve as you get older? Relationships with food during adulthood How does your relationship with food evolve as you get older? Relationships with food during adulthood How does your relationship with food evolve as you get older? How might food/nutrition bring people stress? 1. Eating Disorders
● Anorexia: an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat
● Bulimia: binge eating large amounts of food with a loss of control over the eating — and then purge, trying to get rid of the extra calories in an unhealthy way ● Binge eating: eating large amounts of food in a short amount of time with a loss of control ● Orthorexia: an obsession with eating foods that one considers healthy 2. Food Allergies 3. Illnesses
● Diabetes - paying attention to certain food groups; portion sizes, high
and low blood sugar ● Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) - Fear of the unknown. “Which food will trigger GI discomfort?” ● Kidney Disease (on dialysis) - patients must monitor sodium, potassium, phosphorus, fluid, protein Healing negative relationships with food to manage stress Personality 1: the stress eater How to manage stress eating
1. Note that emotional eating is normal! You are only
human. 2. If you feel that emotional eating is hurting your health, find some other ways to manage your stress (see handout) Can you think of a time when emotional eating may actually help? Personality 2: the chronic dieter Personality 2: the chronic dieter
https://9gag.com/gag/aVMpVAK/how-ron-swanson-eats-a-banana Healing a chronic dieting relationship
Look out for “diet talk”
Healing a chronic dieting relationship
Look out for “diet talk”
“Carbs are bad for you” “This is my cheat meal”
“You’re not fat, you’re beautiful” “I feel fat”
“I was bad today I ate a donut” “I can’t eat that today I ate so badly yesterday”
“Congratulations on your weight loss!” “I need to lose 5 pounds”
Personality 3: all or nothing eating Personality 3: all or nothing eating Healing from an ‘all or nothing’ relationship Healing from an ‘all or nothing’ relationship
Note: if you do have an
episode of binge eating, you still need to eat the next day! Reflect on why you may have binged. Tomorrow is a new day! Healing from an ‘all or nothing’ relationship
All foods fit!
Mindfulness Mindful Eating Mindful Movement Conclusions Take home messages ● Everybody has a unique relationship with food ● Sometimes stress impacts the way that we eat ● Sometimes our relationships with food can create stress ● All foods fit! ● Healing negative thoughts about food can help you to reduce some of the stress in your life ● It is important to take time in your day to be mindful--eliminate distractions from the TV and phone, be more “present”, and take breaks!