Fear Is Not A Reason To Eat Healthy Food

Fear is not a good motivator. Many people today are trying to change their diets as a response to the fear of becoming diseased, or unhealthy, or suffering from an illness brought on by poor eating choices.

There's a problem with being motivated to eat healthy because we are afraid not to: It doesn't work. Not in the long run.

The more we tell ourselves that we're not allowed to eat certain foods, the more fixated we become and the more we have to have it. It's true that what we resist persists.

When we begin to change the way we eat because we are motivated by self love and self nurturing, we find that our desires and abilities to make better choices result from a place driven by love, rather than by fear.

Growing up, I loved to eat (I still do) and never thought twice about whether the food I was eating was going to make me sick. When I became a young mother, I became more health conscientious and worked toward giving my son a diet free of additives and artificial "anything." My love for natural food was cultivated, and I willingly prepared most of meals at home and devoured everything that I could read or learn about nutrition. I was also passionate about the mind and body connection, and all things spiritual. Food hadn't yet begun to scare me. I was still very much enjoying everything that I ate, although not every bite was completely nutritious. I had no digestive issues, and no problems with my weight. I considered myself to be extremely healthy.

I've tried to determine precisely when it changed, and at what point I started to become confused about what it means to eat healthy. I can't recall exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the line, my knowledge became my enemy and I became very confused about what it meant to eat good food.

I have been inundated with far too many nutritional facts, and they all contradict one another.

When I began studying to become a heath practitioner, I was so looking forward to learning the "real" truth about what foods were good, and what foods were to be avoided. I listened to speaker after speaker as they told me how their dietary theories were correct, and they all contradicted one another. I was in dietary hell. (That's not the way I saw it playing out in my head.) This point was addressed by the founder of the school. Many times it was discussed that no one dietary theory fits everyone and that we need to rely on our intuition and listen to what our body tells us is right. That really didn't help me. I became completely and totally overwhelmed by contradictory theories (no matter where I turned to for nutritional answers) and felt that everything I put into my mouth was hurting some part of me, in some way. All of this backfired, and I eventually decided that "all" food was bad, so why not eat whatever I felt like eating?

Rather than making better choices for my health, I threw caution to the wind because I felt utterly defeated.

Eating became pretty stressful for me. I began eating whatever I wanted and neglected my well being, or I fixated on eating only healthy foods and was ridden with confusion. I developed some issues with digestion that I now understand resulted from the stress that I was putting myself under. It's impossible to eat with stress and digest your food at the same time.

This has been an ongoing problem for several years now. I have been lost in all of the nutritional advice and contradictions.

Last week, I stumbled on a Facebook page and a website that turned the tides for me. It wasn't the first time that I read about the mind and body connection as it pertains to food, nor was it the first time that I knew that eating with fear (and stress) was more dangerous than eating the wrong foods. (I knew that intuitively.) But for some reason, all of it fell into place and something just clicked.

I also started re-reading Louise Hay's "You Can Heal Your Life," in addition to truly being ripe and ready to let go of the fear and confusion.

The last few days, I have been focusing on nurturing my needs, and loving myself fully. I have not been focused on the "science of nutrition" while I'm food shopping, preparing, or eating my meals (and snacks). I naturally tend to enjoy eating healthy foods, but I also enjoy indulging a sweet tooth and sometimes eating simply for pleasure.

These last few days have been wonderful. My food is digesting well, I have no heartburn, and I find that I turn away unhealthy foods from a place that is motivated by love, and not by fear.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." 1 John 4:18

If you have been confused about eating healthy, or find that fear has replaced pleasure when you're faced with food, I invite you to schedule a free consultation. I can help you to learn how to replace those fears with the decision to engage in self loving behavior. Please visit my website at happyhomosapien.com, or email me at Carolyn[at]happyhomosapien.com. Providing quality nutrition reviews online.