Before you start reading the article, I want you to stop and think about the following questions.
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What does food mean to you?
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Which foods do you consume in which situations?
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What feelings might these foods correspond to in you?
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Do you think you had a safe and healthy bond with your mother or caregiver during your infancy?
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There were situations that challenged you as a child and adolescence. ? If so, what might be the effects of this on your current life?
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What are your ways of coping when faced with stressful situations?
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What are your nutritional habits like? Did you grow up in a family?
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How would you define your relationship with yourself?
(Think for a while and note these aside. When you read the entire article, you can go back to these questions and review your answers in the light of what has been written)
Excess weight is not the only result of our unhealthy and overeating habits. The food we eat causes stomach, intestine and gallbladder disorders; It increases the risk of blood pressure and heart diseases, diabetes and invites many other diseases.
Knowing these, why can't we stop ourselves from eating at times we don't need, in amounts we don't need?
Answer: Eating behavior is not just about meeting our physical needs that arise as a result of being hungry; It is a more complex condition with mental, emotional and social dimensions.
For this reason, it is necessary to address the issue with a more holistic approach in order to help the person acquire healthy eating habits. In other words, it is necessary to look at the meaning of food in a person's life, the learnings he has brought so far, the codings about food in his mind and the emotions that eating brings out in the person, and reorganize his social life in the light of this information. Otherwise, the nutrition lists and other interventions given only encourage a change from outside to inside, meaning that the person returns to where he started again due to the influence of the underlying unresolved psychological dynamics.
Let's start very determinedly. diets that we felt we couldn't achieve, that started on Monday and couldn't even make it to the end of the week, and that we broke as a result of not being able to resist the treats offered; Weight lost in summer and gained in winter; This is exactly why we lose ourselves when we see chips, desserts, pastries, etc., feel like life has no taste when they are not around, and fall into a pessimism as if we will never get the shape we want!
Do these sound familiar to you?
Let's look at how the story began and how it developed!
When a person first comes into the world, his contact with the world is through food and the care and closeness of the caregiver. Through this, he experiences trust and love. If there is a problem in this regard, if the person feels a lack of trust and love, which is a very delicate balance, the person will continue his life with the void created by this incompleteness in his future life. He/she has problems in receiving and giving love, in feeling valuable, in his/her relationships and in his/her approach to life, and in his/her self-confidence and in people. He cannot establish a healthy bond with himself and his environment. This makes the person anxious and unhappy in life.
An individual who cannot develop effective ways to cope with life stresses as he moves towards adulthood may choose to eat as the easiest way to suppress stress. Nowadays, the kitchen and refrigerator are sources of happiness that people can easily access. Sometimes he goes to the kitchen to suppress his anger, sometimes to complete the love he feels missing or to feel safe. Even if temporary, eating is equivalent to feeling good for that person on a subconscious level. Because food is the oldest symbol of love and care that we have known since infancy. Plus, a child who eats while growing up and does not force his parents is appreciated. Thus, food is also a source of approval for the person.
As the stress level increases, the person begins to isolate himself from social life and spends more time at home, turning more to food. As he eats and gains weight, his stress increases. He is now in a vicious circle. Either he will find a new way to cope with stress and solve the emotional problems he is experiencing, or he will experience stress and weight gain in this cycle. It will continue like this.
As a person grows up, he learns many new things, and nutritional attitudes are one of the subjects he learns. He copies the nutritional attitudes and habits of the family and environment in which he grew up. The child attaches a different meaning to eating with unhealthy foods such as candy, chocolate, etc. given to children to make them happy. Eating the foods we love and being happy activates the brain's reward system, and the feeling of pleasure we experience when we consume these foods increases our likelihood of turning to these foods again. If a person is lucky, he grows up in a family that is conscious of healthy eating. The attitudes learned here are the person's codes towards food and determine his relationship with eating at the mental level.
Of course, we are not aware of these learnings and codings during growth. Over and over again, they become our patterned behaviors and we feel as if we were born this way. However, the truth is not like that. We learned these behaviors over time, and the results created us today. If we are not satisfied with this result, we can, over time, acquire a system of thought and behavior that will make us more advantageous in nutrition, through new learning; We can change our relationship with food.
How do we do this?
Here is the solution!
As we said, many eating problems are based on childhood experiences, and the part that causes us to attach a separate meaning to food stems from the underlying psychological factors. Food is not just food here. For some it means love, for some it means mercy and compassion, for some it means happiness. If our goal is to achieve permanent weight control, we need to analyze these psychological processes first. Although external interventions without solving these processes may seem like an instant solution, the problem often recurs later. Therefore, the first thing we will do is; meaning, changing the emotions that match the food.
Another thing we can do is work on our relationship with ourselves. If we have underlying feelings of worthlessness, we can question how realistic these are and realize where we are unfair to ourselves. Focusing on our skills and using this strength as a lever that will elevate us and increase our well-being. To do this, we need to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses impartially.
Realizing our thoughts and codings regarding eating, we can think of ways that will make us advantageous on the path that takes us to the point we want to reach. We need to change their format. Let's not forget that our thoughts are the seeds that determine how our lives will be and in which direction they will go. And we reap what we sow!
We can acquire the ability to use our brain's reward system in the direction we want. Yes we know; There is a pleasure mechanism, and we can make our brain experience this pleasure mechanism by replacing food with other activities.
We all experience stressful moments in life, but we all have different approaches to stress and ways of coping with it. Learning new ways to cope with stress will make us more advantageous, instead of suppressing it with food.
And of course, we can say that there are some foods that most of us have difficulty resisting. When we crave these foods, we can learn ways to allow ourselves to realize that this desire will subside in a short time, and we can gain the ability to postpone that desire without getting caught up in the moment. By using methods that can turn this into a game, we can prevent it from being a boring and prohibitive approach.
We can approach the eating problem just like an addiction. There is an element of pleasure that we enjoy, and when it is not there, we feel unhappy and disconnected from life. It is as if the foods we are very fond of are the ones that keep us connected to life and hold on to life. It's like a tasteless life without them.
(I will mention the details of these items in my next articles)
We see that our eating habits and psychology mutually affect each other. and a system that we cannot think of separately from each other. Therefore, in the process of gaining weight control and healthy eating habits, Meeting simultaneously with an dietician and a psychologist who works with eating behavior (psychologist) allows the person to reach a more holistic, deep and permanent solution.
In this way, the person has a healthy and fit body. Not only does he get together, he experiences a state of well-being in every aspect of life!
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