The foods you choose impact your body chemistry. This is the what, when, and how of eating. Eating a diet high in refined carbohydrates and saturated fats, coupled with low activity levels, can trigger a set of chemical responses that increase risk for disease and increase fat storage (especially around the belly). Some foods and eating patterns can increase appetite and food cravings. Making conscious food choices on a daily basis will help shift body chemistry in ways that will allow you to reduce calories, lose weight, and sustain energy more consistently. This is a good starting place.

The ability to recognize body sensations, or body awareness, impacts food choices and portion sizes. Most of us base our eating decisions on external sources: i.e. the diets we try, what we’ve been taught, or the opinion of others. When we pause and actually tune in to our own body, it is an amazing source of information. As we learn to pay attention, we are more aware of hunger and fullness, and of which foods and ways of eating are more satisfying. If we focus on restricting our foods, it feels suffocating and lifeless. When we focus on body wisdom, we naturally eat less because we have had enough.

How we think affects the choices we make. Many people enjoy the idea of food, and especially the idea of certain special foods, but then eat too quickly to actually enjoy the experience. We get distracted by the internal voices that give us constant messages, often negative ones. We are so used to them that it is easy to mistake them for truth. As we pay more attention to the thoughts, ideas and emotions that arise, we can see how they impact our eating choices. We can become an objective observer, and notice what is helpful and what is not. As we continue to watch, we begin to see where the decision points are, and to have the opportunity to make different choices.

Another aspect of the coaching process is working with perspectives. When we perceive things in a certain way, it programs us for certain responses. It can be so automatic that we don’t even see it. As we explore our hidden assumptions, we open the possibility of seeing it differently. It is easier to make healthy choices when we change how we think!

We eat for many reasons. Often, when we are craving or needing something else, we try to satisfy ourselves with food. But if we are not truly hungry in the physical sense, then eating is just a temporary relief. Eating can have a numbing or comforting effect, but if it doesn’t address the deeper need it can trigger greater frustration. It is helpful to discover what it is that we are really hungry for. It could be as simple as needing rest or to express an emotion, or as profound as needing to connect with spirit.

Typically we are better at being productive and accomplishing things than we are at just stopping and being. And yet this is often what our soul craves. Looking at what truly nourishes body, mind and soul is important. What feeds us at a deeper level? It may mean allowing time in the day to just stop and connect. It may mean developing daily practices of prayer, journaling, meditation, or reflection. Whatever it looks like, just being able to recognize it can free up part of our reliance on food.