56 STYLE | wellbeing
A BITE
TOO FAR Elly McGuinness highlights two signs of obsessive food behaviours that should be addressed sooner rather than later.
Y
ou’re probably aware of the times you’ve made unhealthy food choices. Perhaps you found yourself eating takeaways all the time and ate very little fresh food. You knew your choices weren’t contributing to your goals of a healthy lifestyle. However, for whatever reasons you continued to make unhealthy choices. It’s worth also taking a look at the other end of the spectrum – obsessive food
behaviours. These can also be considered as unhealthy, even though on the surface they may appear ‘super healthy’. These behaviours are not always addressed and can often go unnoticed, especially by the person who is making them. Here are some signs of obsessive food behaviours. They have the potential to cause problems in various areas of your life, so take a look and decide whether any of them are affecting you.
1. FOOD AT SOCIAL GATHERINGS
Do you worry about visiting friends’ houses for meals in case they’ll serve you something that doesn’t fit in with your idea of what you should be eating? If you feel this way, do you either avoid visiting them or, when you do go, find yourself stressing about the food you’re eating? Do you similarly find you’ve got a lot of resistance to going out somewhere like a café with friends? Either you sit and starve because there’s nothing ‘healthy’ on the menu, or you avoid going all together so you can stick strictly to your diet without succumbing to temptation? These scenarios can highlight a food obsession. Have a think about whether these ingrained ideas are seriously limiting your opportunities to enjoy spending time with the people you want to nurture meaningful relationships with.
2. A LONG LIST OF ‘CAN’T HAVE’ FOODS
Have you created a very large list of foods that you can ‘never’ have? We’re not talking about foods you avoid due to problems such as allergies and intolerances. Perhaps you’re worried one muffin or a piece of bread, even on a very occasional basis, is going to ruin all your hard work and set you back? You are convinced a slight deviation from your ‘rules’ will stop you achieving your goals.