Understanding whether we are Eating to Nourish our bodies or Over Eating to Comfort ourselves

If we check statistics, one of the most popular resolutions is to lose weight. Synonymous with this is the word diet which to different people symbolizes different concepts. To one person it may mean skipping meals, to another it means eating everything in smaller quantities and to another it means searching the net and choosing one of the latest diet plans like a soup diet, fruit diet, high protein, low carb diet, etc.,

We would recommend that you first try to understand yourself and the kind of eating habits you have developed over the years.

1. The first point to understand is whether you eat food as a routine habit and you eat 3 regular meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, daily? Are the 3 meals done as a routine, like you wake up and brush your teeth and then read a newspaper? Similarly do you wake up, make a cup of tea and then just eat breakfast after a bath or do you think about it and say “Oh, should I have breakfast today, let me see if there is something interesting for breakfast, then I will eat it or I am not hungry so I will just miss it!”

2. The second point to consider is whether you are a person who wants something tasty and delicious to eat at every meal or whether you get upset and irritated if you have to eat food as a regular routine and if the routine food is monotonous.

3. The third point is to understand if you feel like eating huge quantities of food every time you eat and that you feel upset when the large quantity is not available or when somebody reminds you or corrects you about the quantity you eat. Basically every time you eat you feel satisfied only when you feel your stomach is over full.

Food has been created by God to nourish the human body, to help us to grow and develop from conception into an adult and to provide us with energy to work and play. Food has also been created to give pleasure to the human being and usually the dishes that give pleasure are quite rich in fat content. Then these are called delicacies or luxury foods which are to be enjoyed occasionally and since they are rich in fat content naturally we are supposed to eat them in small quantities.

The damage starts when we use food for comfort and psychological satisfaction. When we are upset, angry. lonely, bored or depressed we turn to food. So you need to make up your mind to check yourself and find out whether you are using food as a comforter or are you eating food to nourish yourself or for pleasure. You can be using food just like somebody who is smoking or drinking alcohol for comfort.

Using food for comfort often leads to obesity and many other health and psychological problems so understanding what we are doing in relation to our eating is the biggest step we must take to take care of our body and health.

If our goal is to lose weight then we need to eat 3 regular, balanced meals, in small quantities. This has to be followed for a specific period of time, e.g. one month to lose 2-3kgs or 3 months to lose 6-8kgs. During this period we should not overeat and we should not touch or taste any fatty foods or luxury foods. This is the correct way to diet or lose weight.

When we have reached our ideal weight and want to maintain it we need to continue to eat the 3 regular balanced meals, in the same quantities which we used for weight loss. Now however we may indulge in the luxury foods (fatty foods) as a treat, but only once a week and in a regular normal quantity. If we overeat our regular meal food or the treat food we will put back the weight.

This is the real secret to the success of weight loss and weight maintenance!