ABC of Mental Health

Hello! Welcome to another edition of the ABC of Mental Health, your partner in the journey to better mental health — one newsletter at a time. This week’s theme is Relationship with Food. We bring it to your inbox this Thursday to make your Thursday a little therapeutic! 

One relevant recommendation: 

Journaling: It can be a powerful tool for exploring our relationship with food and gaining insights into the dynamics between our emotions, thoughts, and eating patterns. Here are a few prompts to explore: 

• Reflect on the moments when you turn to food for comfort. What emotions bring up these cravings? 

• Examine whether food serves as a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, or other emotions. How has this way of coping evolved?

• What are some alternative ways of coping that could be explored?

Two quotes on Mindful and Conscious Eating:

Jan Chozen Bays, a teacher and author, talks about mindful eating involving a conscious and attentive approach to food going beyond the mere act of consuming it:

 “Mindful eating is a way of engaging with food that is based on the sensations and emotions associated with eating. It's not just about what you eat, but how, when, and why you eat." 

An unknown person spoke about cultivating a positive relationship with what you eat: 

“The way you think about food determines how your body processes it. Cultivate a positive relationship with what you eat."

Three TherapyShorts from TST ^{(to improve your relationship with food)}

1. Are you Limiting yourself? - This means are you eating in ways that limit you (IF, crash diest etc)? These diets basically promote limiting calorie intake and make us people on a forever long willpower quest because we are denying ourselves something as basic as food (which is a necessity for sustenance!). We think we are failures for not being able to keep up with these unsustainable habits which are using a one-size-fits-all approach.

2. Is your eating habit sustainable? - Going vegan or switching to a liquid or keto diet doesn’t make sense if you can’t do it forever. Any changes you bring to your diet need to be ones that can stand the test of time else when we change them, all our work goes in vain. If you’re cutting processed sugar for instance, then that’s a commitment that you choose to make for most days ahead of you (again, all days is setting yourself up for disappointment).

3. Are you eating for pleasure or sustenance? Many of us have associated celebration or joy with food (going out with family or friends, treating ourselves to an ice-cream or being rewarded with chocolate). Often, we can link feeling good to food and then seek food for reducing pain or discomfort and enhancing pleasure. We need to change this association and remind ourselves that food is essential for sustenance and survival and doesn’t need to be our (only) source of pleasure.

Love and light,

The Social Therapist

PS: What if I told you?