How to Fuel Well for Life. Food is Just Fuel.
Do you have trouble deciding how to feel about food?
Do you wonder if you should be adding or eliminating a food group based on the most recent diet craze?
Help your relationship with food by reframing how you think about it. Think about food as just fuel.
Let’s talk about fat. Its not an evil three letter word as some may think, its really just about fuel.
I often use this simple analogy to help clients “see” how they might be over fueling when they overeat. Your body is the car and the food you consume is like the gasoline for your car.
Your body and relationship to food is kinda like this: You live next to a gas station, right next door. Every day you back out of your garage and drive your car the long way to the station (around the block), fill up the tank, drive the car back around the block and put the car back in the garage.
What happens? You haven’t driven far enough to refuel each day and your gas tank would overflow, right?
What’s so different about that and the way you may be eating?
Food is fuel for the energy systems and specialized cell groups in our bodies.
Overeating and under working cause your body to overflow.
Unlike a car, your body places excess fuel in storage as fat.
Now the really cool part:
Carbs have been on the bad list for awhile, but finally starting to get out of the doghouse, yeah, Carbs are your bodies first choice for energy because they are easily accessible and they burn fast. Protein is next, but it takes longer to convert, and finally fat comes on board. Wanna know why?
Because your body is smart.
Very smart.
Instead of storing everything as the macro nutrient it originally was, it stores it as fat because fat gives us more bang for our buck.
When we convert these fuel sources, we are turning calories into energy and fat gives us more than twice the amount protein and carbs do per gram.
So when you consume more calories than you burn your body says, “hmmm, I don’t need these now, but maybe I will soon, so I’ll save them.”
Just like a little kid with candy, your body puts the extra in its pocket., however unlike the child, your body doesn’t use it until it is needed.
Absolutely amazing!
Next time you reach for food, make sure you really need the fuel. Check in with yourself to make sure you aren’t just sad, bored, angry, lonely, or tired.
If you are anything but hungry, you sholuld be reaching for another coping skill: a hug, friend, a walk, sleep, shfiting attention to something more interesting for a moment.
There are tons of things you can do to keep from using food as your pacifier, but first you need to understand why you are reaching for food in the first place — needing fuel? or emotional comfort?
Then choose wisely.
Read more on my blog at stacyrd.com: Vacation Snacks
Stacy Reuille-Dupont, PhD, LAC, CPFT, CNC, licensed psychologist, addiction counselor, personal trainer and nutrition coach. She’s passionate about helping people create a vibrant life using psychology and physiology. With over 25 years coaching people to be their best, she understands how to make living healthy easy while finding adventure, inspiration, and balance. Grab a 7 Day Food Batching Meal Plan Here when you sign up for my newsletter.
