Nanny to Mommy

Everyone has a different and personal relationship with food. Some enjoy it and eat the right amount of healthy food. Some dislike it and only eat because they have to. Some like it too much and will overeat the wrong kinds of foods. Many of the reasons behind each different relationship will stem from childhood, whether it is good or bad.

Yet that doesn’t mean that if you have a bad relationship with food – eating too much, too little, or eating the wrong kinds of food – that you can’t change things when you are older. In fact, it’s a good idea to try to improve your relationship with food if you can. Read on to find out how it can be done. 

Some allergies are very easy to spot; they can even be deadly which is why those who suffer might need to carry an EpiPen with them just in case they come into contact with something that causes an allergic reaction. 

Some allergies, however, are much more subtle, and rather than presenting as a tight throat and chest or red welts or any of the other ‘classic’ symptoms of a food allergy, they simply make the sufferer feel a little unwell. They might become bloated and have problems with digestion. They might not even really be able to put their finger on the issue. If this is the case, it’s clearly going to have a negative effect on your relationship with food. 

Speak to an expert and have some tests carried out to see if you are allergic to anything, especially something you eat a lot like dairy or gluten. It might be that you can fix your relationship with food by removing these things from your diet. 

Some people are reluctant to try new foods. They have found something they like, and they eat it as much as they can – possibly for every meal. If this is a healthy type of food then it’s not quite so bad as if it is something unhealthy, but in either case, if they aren’t eating a range of food then they may not be getting the right balance of nutrients they need to be healthy. Does this sound like you? 

If it does, you know you need to expand your palette, but doing so can be difficult or even scary. To make it easier to deal with, try one new thing at a time, and do it at your own pace. Adding one new item to a weekly shop, for example, means that by the end of the year you will have tried 52 new things, and that’s a great improvement. Try both unusual items such as umami sauce and more regular ones that you wouldn’t normally eat and see what you think – you might discover a new favorite food. 

If you like to eat lots of different types of food and you enjoy eating healthily, perhaps with a great healthy Mediterranean menu, but you find that you fall back into bad habits, eating microwave food and processed dishes when you’re on your own, that might be because you have problems with cooking. If you think you’re bad at it or you don’t enjoy it, or you’ve had a problem in the past this can mean that your relationship with food is affected.

If you can make cooking as fun as possible then your relationship with food will improve, and you’ll eat much better too. Try listening to music while you cook, or experimenting with different ingredients, or even trying out cooking classes. Anything that will help should be trialed.