Food: Medicine or Emotional Crutch? 🍎💊 vs 🍰😢

​​Can we be honest for a second, Reader

I know I can't be the only one who has struggled with finding comfort in food. I heard something recently that really got me thinking. Someone asked the question, "Are you using food as medicine… or as emotional therapy?" 🤔 I really had to pause and think about my relationship with food. I honestly can say that most of the time, I look at food as nourishment, but that wasn't always the case.

As we embrace intermittent fasting for its health benefits, it’s crucial to examine our relationship with food. The healing that occurs during fasting is powerful, but how we eat during our feeding windows is equally important.

Consider this: - Do you see food primarily as fuel and nourishment? - Or do you find yourself turning to food for comfort, stress relief, or emotional support?

A healthy relationship with food is key to successful intermittent fasting. Without it, we risk: - Rebounding and undoing our fasting benefits 📈📉 - Falling into binge-eating patterns 🍔🍕🍰 - Feeling guilty and awful after eating 😫

Does your mindset around food often get in the way of your progress? Do you want to know the key to lasting change? Shifting our mindset about food. 🧠

✨ It's time to view food not as a reward or punishment, but as nourishment for our bodies. This mental shift can transform our eating habits, making fasting more effective and enjoyable. By seeing food as a source of energy and health rather than comfort or stress relief, we can break free from emotional eating patterns and truly harness the power of intermittent fasting. Let's look at some ways we can make some shifts in our mindset. You can apply this to all areas of life but today I want us to think about these relating to Eating and Fasting Like a Girl.

Let's start a conversation:

1. How would you describe your relationship with food?

2. Has intermittent fasting changed how you view eating?

3. What strategies have you found helpful in maintaining a balanced approach to food?

📝 Journal your thoughts to these questions. I can absolutely tell you that intermittent fasting has helped me shift my mindset from seeing food as a source of comfort to seeing food as nourishment for my body. Now that we have thought about our relationship with food, let's consider some ways we can practice mindful eating 🧠🍴🥗 when we aren't building our fasting muscle 💪🏻 and how you can break your longer fasts that will support your new relationship with food.

How should you be breaking a longer fast?

After a longer fast, anything longer than 24 hours, you may struggle with the challenge many of us face when opening up our eating window. We are ready to EAT ALL THE THINGS. This is sometimes called the boomerang effect. To avoid diving face first into whatever food you have lying around, I would encourage you to adopt a gentler approach to reintroducing food when it is time to eat. Try this four step approach to nourishing your body well.

1. Start with some bone broth. It contains lots of healing properties like glycine which will help nourish your microbiome and the lining of your gut.
2. Next, add in some prebiotic fiber and probiotic-rich foods which will feed the good bacteria in your gut.
3. Then, move on to lightly steamed or sauteed veggies as raw veggies can often provide too much roughage and be harder on your digestive system.
4. Finally, your gut is ready to move on to digesting animal proteins.

As you get more comfortable with longer fasts, your gut will become more tolerable and you may not need to take such a gentle approach to breaking your fast.

Our Health Journey isn't Meant to be Walked Alone

If you want to experience Fasting and Eating Like a Girl with a community of women who support each other in building healthier relationships with food as we continue our intermittent fasting journeys, consider joining Seasons in the Orchard Membership Group. 💪🥗

Coach AJ's Top Product Picks for Healthy Fasting and Feasting

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