Do you have a toxic relationship with food?

SALT LAKE CITY — Do you have a healthy relationship with food? Or do you find yourself struggling with what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat?

On the latest Let’s Get Moving podcast episode, Host Maria Shilaos spoke with Kim Shapira, nutritional therapist and celebrity dietitian, to learn what it really means to “take back our relationship with food.”

 

Taking back our relationship with food means to be empowered enough to trust our own selves with our eating choices, said Shapira.

Because our body thrives in consistency, it doesn’t hurt to eat at the same time every day. However, it’s important to know that our appetite and hunger levels don’t always stay the same.

“What we need to be doing is really finding our mind, so our mind can actually assess how our body feels and what our body needs in the moment,” Shapira said.

How does hunger work?

Shapira described hunger as an emptiness in your stomach, a feeling that shouldn’t be painful or scary.

“It’s actually just a hormone kind of telling you, ‘Hey, it’s time to eat.’ That’s it,” she said. “If it gets to the point where now you’re experiencing shakiness, or your mood has changed, or you [don’t] physically have the energy to do things, that’s too much.”

One of the common mistakes Shapira sees people make is overdoing and not simplifying.

“Right now, protein is a hot trend. Even the fact that we are talking about food and trends, there shouldn’t be this kind of correlation, in my opinion,” she said. “We don’t need high protein, we need protein. And we always have. That’s not something new. I think if you eat too much protein and you’re not moving your body, it’s going to be stored as fat.”

How can we avoid mindless eating?

Shapira’s first tip is to eat without distractions.

“I think that your food should be at the kitchen table without any distractions, especially if you’re emotional,” Shapira said.

Shapira also emphasized the importance of eating when we’re hungry, not because we think it’s a good idea.

“Before you even eat or take one chip out of that bag, you find your mind,” Shapira said. “And one simple exercise you can do is to ask yourself, ‘Where is my body?’ … and then to say, ‘Where is my mind?’”

Read more from the Let’s Get Moving podcast:

• How to prepare for the cold and flu season
• What is reformer Pilates, and why is it good for us?
• Riding an e-bike can boost your health

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