Trigger Warning: Talk Of Disordered Eating, Binge Eating, Food Issues, Etc.

If you have read or listened about my health journey, you know that food has not always been so simple for me. Many people I know struggle around food or have struggled at some point in their lives. These tips have all helped me in one way or another. While this is only based on my own experiences, I hope you find value in these suggestions that made a significant impact on my relationship with food. 

Tip #1: Eat enough (or even slightly more) to reduce binge eating. 
As someone who seriously struggled with binge eating, eating enough food made a great difference. Instead of restricting to the point where I felt like I had to overcompensate for the lack of food I had consumed that day, I ended my day feeling nourished and satisfied, ultimately ending the desire to binge. 

Tip #2: Stop counting calories and macros.
For a long time, I fell very deep into calorie and macro counting. Cutting this out was the best thing I could do. It was not easy at first, but I knew I could not heal my relationship with food until I stopped this obsessive behavior.

Tip #3: Seek help from the people you trust.
Seeking help can be a hard step because in that moment, we have almost convinced ourselves that there is nothing wrong so that we do not have to accept that we are practicing unhealthy habits. Sometimes our habits can also just be something we are not fully aware of. By talking to someone you trust, you might have an easier time coming to terms with potentially obsessive or unhealthy behavior. 

Tip #4: Eat more of your fear foods. 
It may seem counterintuitive, but once I took these foods off this pedestal I created, I was able to control the binges. Binges were happening when I told myself I could not have something. Knowing I “could not have something” only made my brain want it more.

Tip #5: Cut the outside noise (diet culture, macro counting, certain things online, etc.).
Try not to inundate yourself with diet culture and all things surrounding it. This might mean no more YouTube videos around macro counting, unfollowing people that do not benefit your mental health, not talking about food/eating with friends, or whatever this might mean to you.

Tip #6: Heal your relationship with yourself.
This tip is what helped me the most. There was a reason why I felt the need to overeat, restrict, and binge. That was because I did not have a good relationship with myself. I was not consciously aware that the way I treated myself was why I treated my relationship with food the way I did. 

Tip #7: Shift your mindset of what food means to you.
Look at food and be grateful for it. No more labeling it as good or bad-it is nourishing your body. Rather than looking at food as something that is stressful, try looking at it as fuel or a way to make new memories. 

For more details about how I healed my relationship with food, listen to my podcast episode here.