I used to teach a class on healthy eating for the Drug Abuse Alternatives Center in Santa Rosa. This morning, as I pondered the following questions: What kind of information do people really need? How can I contribute to greater health on the planet? I was reminded of that class.
As I prepared to teach that class back in 2007, I realized that teaching people how to eat healthy seemed silly. Everyone already knows how to eat “healthy”. To test my hypothesis I started the class with a question. Which one of these is healthier?
As I suspected, everyone picked the apple. While they both have an equivalent number of calories, the Coke has what we call empty calories and the apple gives us vitamins, minerals, fiber and natural compounds that prevent cancer and heart disease. Similarly, when offered a choice between cookies and veggies, the class participants chose the veggies. Once again I came smack up against the truth that more information isn’t really necessary. Lack of knowledge isn’t a barrier to healthy eating. It is something else.
Some of the barriers are practical:
● Can’t find the time.
● Don’t have enough money.
● Too much work.
● I’m too tired.
● The people around me don’t eat well either.
● There is no good food in the house.
Other barriers to healthy eating are internal. Sometimes people eat when their body doesn’t need food because they have specific triggers or have picked up habits that are hard to break. Some of the reasons for inappropriate eating include:
● Lack of awareness that we are eating.
● Eating when we get home.
● Eating when we get a break or during times of transition.
● Treating ourselves with food.
● Eating to calm down.
● Eating because other people are eating.
● Eating more because other people are eating.
● Eating because we are cooking for others.
● Buying food that others like even though it isn’t very healthy.
● Depriving ourselves of food and getting too hungry.
The therapy for these type of blocks include a process of introspection and conscious behavior change. It is all about making a choice and increasing awareness. Specific techniques for changing eating habits include my favorite ThetaHealing®. Sometimes we are compelled to eat a certain way due to subconscious beliefs and programs.
