Week 1
Let’s talk about Food Serenity. Food Serenity is returning to a place where food is consumed for nourishment, energy and honoring your body. No longer using food to achieve a feeling, (numbing out, stress relief, comfort) but rather using food for its rightful purpose.
Food serenity is about finding peace and neutrality with food. This means reducing or eliminating your trigger foods, developing spirituality and mindfulness (which will come as the days progress), and belonging to a support network.
Trigger foods are foods that you obsess about. Once you start eating a trigger food, it is difficult to stop. Eating your trigger foods often leads you to compulsively overeat other foods. These foods almost always highly processed.
Over time, as you eliminate or reduce your intake of trigger foods, you’ll gradually achieve appetite correction and a peaceful relationship with food where you consume it for nourishment. You’ll honor your body. No longer will you “use” food like a drug to alter your mental state or achieve a feeling.
Action Steps for today:
Identify Your Trigger Foods
Write down your trigger foods. These are foods that you obsess about. Once you start eating a trigger food, it is very difficult to stop or have a reasonable portion. Eating your trigger foods often leads to an overeating episode containing other foods.
Ask yourself:
What do I eat when I experience strong emotions? (i.e., anger, sadness, stress, excitement, happiness.)
What is the personal price I’ve paid for continuing to eat addictive foods?
What price have I paid physically, emotionally, and spiritually?
What have trigger foods robbed me of?
What opportunities have I lost?
What are my behaviors that lead to overeating? (i.e., eating in front of a screen, eating in the car, eating standing up at the kitchen counter.)
Hint: You can keep it simple. You may notice that all your trigger foods contain refined sugar and refined flour, or have been deep fried. Please keep in mind, some trigger foods don’t have sugar or flour (i.e., chips, which is one of the most addictive foods on the planet). Make sure to list those foods as well.