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What replaces food, the book EatReadHooday Zoya Bogdanova review
Psychologist, weight correction specialist and author of the book “Eat. Read it. Lose Weight ”Zoya Bogdanova told Woman’s Day what feelings and emotions we replace with food and how to deal with it.
Delicious food gives us positive emotions, fills us with peace and joy. But not only. Unfortunately, in addition, we get health problems, excess weight and, as a result, dissatisfaction with our appearance, self-doubt and disappointment. It turns out to be a vicious circle: we run from stress in order to come back … to it!
What dangers sneak up with food
The habit of eating tasty and dense food is instilled in us in childhood. Remember how those around them are touched when they see a child in bandages, and how mom persuades him to eat one more spoon for dad, sister and other relatives. If in a family it is customary to finish eating every last crumb from a plate, to arrange abundant feasts with or without reason, to cook fatty and high-calorie meals, children imperceptibly adopt the same way of life.
The sad thing is that neither parents nor older offspring think about how unhealthy this eating behavior is. And then they wonder where obesity and problems with the liver, pancreas, kidneys, cardiovascular system, and joints come from.
“In my practice, there is a story about a client who was“ fed ”with love by her husband, filling her with pastries and cakes. She gladly accepted these signs of attention and as a result ate as much as 25 kg, ”says Zoya Bogdanova. And remember how our grandmothers love to feed us with pies and cutlets. Or pay attention to the seemingly familiar question that loving people ask each other: “Are you full?”
The fact is that many people do not know other ways to demonstrate their love and care, except through food. This is how we were brought up, this is how it happened in our culture. We prepare delicious meals to please the people we love, we buy goodies when we are sad, we grab the chocolate bar like a lifeline in case of trouble at work or in our personal life. But the situation is by no means critical and fixable if you make a little effort and start taking food more consciously.
To eat or not to eat – that is the question!
Imagine: you came to your friends, and they hug you from the doorway and say how much they love you, and as a treat they offer to walk for an hour in the park, and for dessert talk about modern poetry. Or at a birthday party, guests read poems about the best qualities of the hero of the occasion with the word “love” (this is instead of a cake), then everyone goes outside with their bicycles to ride (this is instead of a feast), at the end they take memorable photos and leave. How do you like this picture? Unrealistic, isn’t it?
Food acts as a guide to pleasure, love, care, joy. “It is very important to learn to feel in which cases we use food for the natural maintenance of life and health, and in which we feed ourselves joyfully through the mouth,” the weight correction specialist notes.
Love recipe for every day
Sometimes problems pile up right away and from everywhere, and we understand: there is only one joy left in life – food. We always get the expected positive result from her, because we have learned from childhood: delicious dishes are a holiday! How to deal with it?
“It is necessary to learn to receive positive emotions not through food. But in no case change everything abruptly and drastically: I often come across the emptiness that forms in my clients in the place where there was joy from the extra cakes and cakes, ”advises Zoya Bogdanova.
Gradually, but purposefully, replace “edible” manifestations of self-love with “emotional” ones: walking, watching TV series, going to the store, chatting with friends. This will allow you to smoothly replace the imposed pattern of behavior with a slender – in every sense of the word – concept. In addition, try to express your concern for loved ones not through treats. There are so many wonderful ways to show your love: talk about what is really important to your dear person, organize an interesting time together, prepare a small useful gift, or just come up and hug!
