"Your Relationship with food matters more than you might think"

Have a big weekend, Feel guilty about the excess of calories, have a super restrictive week.

Sound familiar?

This is the start of a binge eating cycle

One of the easiest ways to break that cycle is your perception of food and how you frame it.

You shouldn't punish yourself for eating food. If you don't eat you will literally DIE.

Having a better relationship with the food you eat will shape how you feel and your progress towards your goal.

Don't Label Foods Good or Bad, attaching negative terminology to food can lead you to demonise certain foods. Yes, there are foods that have more or less nutrients than others but you should not feel bad for eating food you enjoy.

You have to be aware that if you eat cake and savoury treats everyday you may not be giving your body the best fuel and macronutrient splits to progress you. Aligning how you eat to what your goals are are simpler than you think.

Some days aren't about progress:

Birthdays

Weddings

Christmas

And any other day thats important to you.

Stay in the moment, enjoy to occasion and make some good memories.

Another reason why your relationship with food is important...

Imagine having your perfect eating day then eating 1-3 biscuits containing about 300kcal and thinking that has ruined your entire day!

Despite hitting your protein target and eating within your calorie constraints.

The way your have viewed those biscuits so negatively could have ruined your momentum and have a knock on effect to the next day of eating

When in the grand scheme of things they mean nothing!

It will be easier to look at your progress through the week and not day by day.

Day by day is essentially micromanaging yourself or that annoying boss you have telling you every small detail and how to do your job (you already know how to do)

If eating a certain food that you might label bad lets you adhere to your diet then is it really a "bad" food?

The longer you can stick to the plan the better?

80% on it 20% not so on it is the perfect ratio to make you not feel like a robot and to enjoy your social occasions

At the end of the day the way you eat needs to fit into your lifestyle and not fitting your life around the way you eat.

Yes we want it to align with your goals but if eating is a chore you will get de-railed at the first speed bump.

Think to yourself what is sustainable. Can I do this for 3 months, 6 months and even a year!

You will naturally have different phases, they are split into three main ones.

Build - Create a calorie surplus

Maintain - Create a equal energy in vs energy out

Lose - Create a calorie deficit

Your relationship with food shapes who you become, make it a positive one.