GET WHAT YOU NEED!
“You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need”
~ The Rolling Stones
The Stones were right. Often when we are on journeys to better our health we set our sights on goals that end up more in “want” territory than in the “need” column. This might sound like a bit of tough love but what I am more specifically talking about is how we envision our lives will be when we are no longer focused on making the scale move. It is a discussion I have often with clients and one I feel is important to share with you. I hear things like,
“I am just using keto to hit my weight goal and then I will just eat the foods I miss in moderation.”
“I don’t want to see the rest of my life as a period of restriction so if I want Oreos, I will eat Oreos.”
I think you get the point of the comments. You may even see yourself in them. Maybe these things will be possible, but I want you to be open to the idea that maybe they will not. Not because you will need to punish yourself or live restricted but because a part of your journey should be learning about what your body needs to function at its best. It should be about learning to be honest with yourself about how certain foods make you feel and the response you have to them on both a physical and emotional level.
If unrestricted intake of highly palatable processed food got you into the place you were when you got started it’s important to ask yourself why the reintroduction of these foods is a major goal you’re clinging to now? It may be uncomfortable but it is crucial to examine the possibility that removing these foods from your life permanently is the change that you need to live a healthy active life that is not focused around food. That thing you proclaim you want badly could be something that will return restriction, challenge and literal pain to your life. For me I like to look it as I may not live the rest of my life not having cake but I do certainly know that I could survive and thrive if I did!
Prioritizing the needs that stay in line with your big picture goals, in this case specifically around food choices, can be a powerful step towards making lasting change. So ask yourself if you are building up a tower of things you want versus a tower of things that you actually need. Take these foods off that pedestal they sit upon in your mind and be conscious of how the choices you’re making truly are provoking positive change in your life.
I am not saying you must demonize certain foods, but you do need to be honest about their impact on your body and the cost of those consequences. This does not mean that you are broken or that something is wrong with you. Every person on the planet faces different struggles and challenges, and if for you it is something around food making peace with it can be very freeing. If you were prescribed a medication that gave you greater health would you question whether taking it was a good thing for your future? If not, I encourage you to look at food as that medicine. When you find a way of eating that brings you good health and peace of mind, do not waste your energy trying to find a way around it. Embrace the “cure” that has worked for you as a positive gift you have given yourself.
