Get motivated to build healthy eating habits for health and well-being. These easy tips for healthy eating include your mindset as well as habits with food and nutrition. Discover how good you can feel when you give your body the nutrients you need to be your best. Join author, blogger, and fitness instructor, Ginger Harrington and coach, Gay Brownlee, for a conversation on practical tips for healthy eating habits for greater health and wellbeing.
The Challenge of a Healthy Mindset toward Food and Body Image
In our image-driven culture, many of us struggle with some toxic combination of body image, eating habits, weight, guilt, and shame. Constantly bombarded with images of ultra-thin and beautiful people in media, it is hard not to compare yourself.
Maybe you’ve seen the movie, “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Consider this conversation between Nigel and Andy:
Andy Sachs:
So none of the girls here eat anything?
Nigel:
Not since two became new four and zero became the new two.
Andy Sachs:
Well, I’m a six…
Nigel:
Which is the new fourteen.
Watch the clip here. Though we know this is a movie set in the fashion industry, I think it reveals much of our cultural obsession with size, weight, and body image.
My Personal Struggle with a Positive Mindset toward Food and Body Image
Growing up, I was what they call, “on the pudgy side.” Between fourth and sixth grade, I was sometimes made fun of because I was taller and heavier than most of the girls in my school. It was hurtful. Dieting and the desire to lose weight has been a part of my mindset since I was 12.
If you have read Holy in the Moment, or the free chapter, you may remember my challenge with Grave’s disease, which impacted my thyroid. What I didn’t write about was that due to radiation treatment, I no longer have a functioning thyroid. I gained over 40 pounds in a year, despite stringent eating habits in the journey to get my levels to normal. I’m very grateful for hormone replacement, but it is not the same as your natural body function.
All this to say, healthy eating and a healthy self-image is a battle I am well acquainted with. For the past 23 years, I feel like I live on a diet to try to maintain and not gain further pounds. Not fun. To be honest, I can get very discouraged and my mindset regarding my weight isn’t always healthy.
I share a little of my story to illustrate that our relationship with food, eating habits, dieting, and healthy self-image can get tangled up. For many, especially women, healthy eating habits often have a soul and spirit connection. A soul connection in that our thoughts, emotions, and self-image often intertwine with our mindset about food. There can also be a spirit connection when we struggle to accept ourselves as fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14).
Maybe this doesn’t relate to you, but considering that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and childhood obesity is on the rise, many of us can grow in both healthy eating habits and a healthy mindset about food.
“We define healthy eating as having a healthy balance of foods and having a healthy relationship with food.”
—anonymous
Your Healthy Eating Habits Matter
Food is fuel for our bodies, but much of the food we eat does not serve our bodies well.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “Unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S., due to nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.” This is a sobering statistic that impacts all of us, either directly or for a friend or family member.
Regardless of the number on the scale, the size of our clothes, or how we feel about our looks, healthy eating habits are important for all of us. A lifestyle of healthy eating habits and a healthy mindset empower us to feel good, fuel our bodies, and support our health. Watch the video for helpful tips to cultivate healthy eating habits for your body and soul.
Join the Wellness Project
Discover how good you can feel with a weekly email from Ginger packed with motivation, information, tips, journal pages, and a prayer to help you build consistent habits of heath. One topic each week for your body, soul, or spirit. Focus on consistent, simple practices to experience greater well-being. Healthy looks great on you! Join hundreds of women and get started with The Wellness Project today.
Meet Health Coach Gay Brownlee
As a health coach, Gay specializes in helping people lose weight and build optimal health for the past 14 years. In this video, Gay shares how she got started on her wellness journey as well as powerful lessons and mindset shifts that create a healthy relationship with food.
The most powerful change of perspective is to stop thinking of healthy eating as a life of restriction and deprivation–especially if your goal is weight loss. Gay shares how learning to think of good eating habits as freedom to choose to feel good and increase our health. For me, this has been a game-changer. She has helped me reframe my thinking from a deprivation, missing-out, “diet” mindset, to focusing on a lifetime of habits of health. I hope you will be encouraged by our conversation as well!
We chatted about several important mindset changes that are vital to healthy eating as a lifetime journey, focusing on progress rather than obsessing over perfection. Set boundaries with foods you enjoy but don’t support good health, rather than eliminate completely from your diet. After all, nothing stirs up a craving for chocolate cake more than telling yourself you can’t ever eat that favored food again. Learning to rethink guilt and shame about food choices can help us develop a healthy relationship with food for a lifetime.
“Healthy eating is a way of life, so it’s important to establish routines that are simple, realistic, and ultimately livable.” Horace
Key Points for Health Eating and a Positive Mindset with Food
- A healthy life includes your body, soul, and spirit.
- Eating isn’t only about what you put in your mouth, but also how you think healthy eating,
- Many people struggle with a healthy mindset about body image and relationship with food.
- See healthy eating as freedom to feel your best rather than a lifestyle of restriction.
- Remember what you really want for the long-term rather than a passing desire of the moment.
- Eat to regulate blood sugar for good health and weight loss.
- Eat small meals often to sustain energy and experience less cravings.
- Choose carbohydrates on the lower end of the Glycemic Index.
- Pair carbohydrates with protein to regulate blood sugar.
- Develop micro habits to set yourself up for success and limit temptation.
- Healthy eating and weight loss are a journey based on our daily choices.
- Give yourself grace and focus on a lifestyle of health by celebrating progress over perfection.
What helps you cultivate healthy eating habits for your body as well as your mind and emotions? Leave a comment to share what helps you. It may be just the tip someone needs today. Click here to watch now.
Links Mentioned in the Broadcast
- Ginger’s book, Holy in the Moment (amazon affiliate link at no cost to you)
- Sign Up for The Wellness Project
- Get Ginger’s Newsletter and Access to the Subscriber Library
- Gay Brownlee’s Website
- Connect with Gay Brownlee on Facebook:
Follow Ginger on Social Media
The Wellness Project Blog Posts
Although this is a free email series, read a few related blog posts to get motivated to build healthy habits.
- 28 Motivating Quotes to Build Healthy Habits this Year
- Why Positive Thinking is Good for a Healthy Body, Soul, and Spirit
*The contents of this website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on gingerharrington.com are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
