Food, in general, is a very complicated topic. We would like to believe it's all just about fueling your body providing calories in the form of protein, fat, carbs with some vitamins so that your body can perform required work.

But my experience and probably yours too is that it's often much more. And that can be why it’s hard to change what you eat. Food is at times, the way people gain control of their lives, the way they communicate love to their children. We know there's a lot of emotional connection around food that can make this topic a very complicated emotional experience.

We can't really change what we eat unless we can look at our relationship with food and sort through anything that may be preventing us from making the choices that on some level we know are actually the best for our bodies.

One way to do this is to pay attention to the food we are eating. How often do you focus solely on eating without distraction? This is called Mindful Eating and there are many techniques that can be helpful. The simplest one is to sit, fully focused, and eat a meal. Engage with the sights, smells, and texture of what you are eating. Hold the food in your mouth and experience the flavors. Tune in to the messages you get: Do you like the taste? How much of it do you need? What comes up for you when you take time to eat in this way?

These questions can open up a healing dialogue, the beginning of a new conversation around food and the role it plays in creating optimal health for you!