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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of my past clients alerted me to this fascinating article, which made me squeak a little internally.  Yes!  More scientists are studying what I have been noticing for over a decade with my clients and within myself.  

WHAT WE THINK ABOUT OUR FOOD AND BODIES AFFECTS OUR BODIES

Why, when we are stressed out, we may not be absorbing nutrients and calories the same.  And when we are relaxed, we can notice and sense our signals of hunger and fullness and even how food is “working for us” in terms of energy and satisfaction.

Our bodies have more feedback mechanisms to regulate weight and hunger than we understand and to simplify it to “calorie in = calories out” minimizes the wisdom I think we all, deep down, understands exist.

How, as we watch infants, toddlers and children eat, they know when to end a food jag, when to eat lots and when to eat little.  They don’t need a food label to tell them or a guru.  But they do need time to settle in, be given the chance to learn to like a variety of foods and NOT BE INTERFERED WITH in terms of labeling foods as good or bad.

This lesson, however, it not about teaching children eating competence and attuned eating.  It is about that inner child in all of us, that once knew how to drink a milkshake without guilt then move on to the next meal or snack when we were hungry again.  

To do this, we have to make food neutral.  We have to heal the beliefs that certain foods make us gain weight or lose weight.  We have become neurotic about the belief that if I eat fat or sugar, I get fat or will be unhealthy.  However, as this study is suggesting, how food works in our body has more to do with our relationship with food than reducing our food down to simple calories in or out.

My question for you is what foods do you need to make peace with?  Please share your comments below and share this story with anyone you think would love to heal their relationship with food as well.

Much Love 
Tracy