What is a healthy relationship with food? | Rhiannon Lambert | TEDxUniversityofEastAnglia

Do you have a

healthy

relationship

with

food

? Think about it,

what

does this really mean? This is the question I am commonly asked by most of my clients who walk through my door at the clinic and I would like to ask them all. a few questions and you don't need to raise your hands, but think carefully? Have you ever calculated the calories in your

food

before eating it or followed the latest diet trend like juice cleanse meal replacement programs Atkins 5:2 or maybe you are that person who steps on the scale in the morning and then you feel really deflated or you know you should be eating more green vegetables and a completely varied diet but you end up ordering takeout three nights a week and ordering the same thing to your desk in the office the next day because I don't need to see a manifestation of hands.

I'm pretty sure most of you have modified your diet in some way to feel differently about ourselves and others. The fact is that we all have a

relationship

with the foods we have to eat to live well, so this relationship develops throughout our lives and this is something I talk about with my clients in clinic and often call into their world. of food, which is everything. You all believe in food or your eating script and that's the journey it took you to get to where you are now with food. I developed an un

healthy

relationship with food at 17 years old.

My life changed literally overnight. I stopped working at my local Subway store. as a sandwich artist because believe it or not, that's

what

we were called to win Classic FM's young musician of the year award as a soprano without any formal training. I left home very young for London to embark on a completely new life. I was very excited. Worlds away from my small hometown in Wiltshire, I've had some incredible opportunities and for those of you musical theater fans in the room, you may know that I had a child on stage with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball, even international royalty .

I was led to believe that she would be Needless to say, the next Katherine Jenkins couldn't have been further from the truth and after three tireless years on the singing circuit, she had a career that, frankly, was over before it had even begun and the search for changes and quick solutions by the recording industry. Overnight there were no limits. I believed that to be successful I had to be skinny and fit into these beautiful, tight dresses that were provided to me and the perfectionist in me tried. I tried so hard that I went straight to the local supermarket and stocked up on all the latest products, you know, I mean the zero calorie ones, energy bars and the pho, oh there's food, chocolate, tea, smoothies and chokers.

I thought I was being very healthy by doing so, of course, after a period of time. I felt so malnourished and low on energy that in desperation I went to my doctor and I remember this moment so clearly that I was looking for answers and instead of identifying my nutritional deficiencies he put me on antidepressants and looking back I still can't quite. I think they were so quick to medicate someone so young in this situation. This didn't make any sense in my life, so my decision to switch from singing to part-time and enroll in a three-year degree in nutrition and health completely saved my life.

He literally saved me. I still can't believe I graduated three years later with a first class degree in nutrition and health, which would really amaze my GCSE science teacher. I had very little time for science there and it was all about music and me. I immediately went with my clients to Harley Street in London to work with them on their nutrition with these big ambitions to be able to help every person who walked through my door. Now, of course, I soon realized that it is very difficult to separate what someone should be. eating about how they feel about the foods they are eating because psychology and nutrition go hand in hand and this is what inspired me to study an additional master's degree in obesity and another master's degree again in eating disorders because we all have that inner voice inside our heads and for many people this voice will dictate how you choose the food you choose it tells you what to do for some people it is very loud it is almost like a bully inside your head telling you that you are not good enough or that you should do this or that and for some people that is the voice that dictates their food choices, how can you help people implement health behavior changes if this voice is ruining their decisions every day?

If you catch them, the most useful thing you can do is learn to separate that voice in your head from what you really want and what you would really enjoy that day, for example, making very small changes can have really very big results if carried out. consistently one of those examples. It would be a plant-based diet, this is now known with research sources to improve health and vitality, but that is a small change that cannot be measured with a number on the scale. How can the scale be a marker of health? As you can see? On the outside it reflects how you feel and how you are functioning on the inside, stepping on the scale was downright time consuming and you spend your entire life aiming to reach this number because you can't enjoy that pizza pie or that donut. observe how you feel and be aware, observe and save in the moment because everything in moderation, that's what life should be about, if you respect your body enough, they give you a wide variety of different foods daily and if you organize yourself and believe in yourself and in those who allow themselves to enjoy food, research suggests that they are less likely to overeat and choke on food because black and white thinking is what gets us into trouble.

I'm sure many of you can relate to this one. They're very all or nothing, well I've had a cookie so I might as well have the whole package or I've been really good all week so I'm going to eat this now on the weekend, these are the thoughts in our heads which can make life a little more difficult. I try to merge these thoughts from black or white to gray, a middle ground. What if instead of having had one cookie, I have one or two, but I'll eat them with some? yogurt or fruit instead, well, if you're exhausted, why go for a run when you could just go for a walk?

These are very, very small health behavior changes that can't be seen by a number on the scale because being stuck in that cycle throws the restriction away. The cycle is a very vicious place and I'm sure many of you can relate or know someone or have tried following their latest social media star or celebrity diet and often that means cutting something out of your diet. instead of what you can put into it, how many of you have restricted what you have eaten and then the moment you restrict that food or that you may think about obsessively every day, it is that food that you have restricted that you then take them? eat that item and then you are plagued with fingers of guilt, feelings of shame that lead you back to stretching again.

This cycle can keep people trapped their entire lives, but it doesn't have to be that way, the most important thing I think. What I have ever learned is that you are all as unique as your personalities and what works for you will not work for your friends or your children even because you are genetically biochemically unique individuals and you need to find a balance that works for you. because the moment you embark on a diet for anyone who is on the verge of dieting on the verge of one or giving up on one, let me tell you that I have been there very lost and confused, but I can assure you that the secret of good health is not hidden and the bottom of a package of superfoods or a packet of chia seeds and what the peddlers of fatty diets do not share with you is that it is not about how you feel days or weeks later, but about how you feel months and years later because diets don't If diets didn't work, we'd all be on them, so I developed four easy-to-remember principles to help you all focus on nourishing your mind and body and get back to the basics.

I call these my four Rs, respect your body because if you respect your body and think how wonderful it is, it will treat me well in return. It's about the mentality. Listen to your voice and not that voice that may be in your head. Think about refueling. Food is fuel. Food is energy. The food is something incredible. It's not just for people who exercise. Think about how you can fuel your day the right way. Rehydrate. Now there's a very scary statistic: the average Brit drinks one glass of water, just one. Your body is 60% water. It's a very simple look. but it's a vital function of life to make you feel amazing every day, get back to basics and recover, allow your body to rest and I'm not just talking about muscle repair, talk about your hormones, your mind or sleep, sleep It is something that is too often overlooked.

I believe that foods are not inherently good or bad and we need to stop labeling them this way because everything is there to be enjoyed, so I would like everyone to consider unlearning everything they thought they knew about nutrition. They just decided and left. get back to basics seek qualified advice and stop resorting to a search engine and if we can stay together we can fight diet culture, we can embrace our individuality. We can do something different because education is truly empowering and I have a vision that food This is something that should be seen as a positive aspect of life that offers enjoyment and happiness for your mind and your body, and that is what I call a healthy relationship with food.