The following questions are designed to challenge you to think about nutrition and health weight management in a different way. “When you change your attitude about self-nourishment, your body composition and body image will also be transformed. You’ll have much more success in maintaining the health of your body if you take time to integrate your new behavior into your overall self-concept.” ( Christiane Northrup)

It is important to understand that your body and metabolism are influenced by more than food. Let’s explore wellness factors and nutrition.

Do you respect your body?

• Do you feel that you nourish your body in a way that is respectful and healthy?

Dieting –

• Did your parents (caretakers) diet?
  • Were you expected to diet?
  • If so…
    • How did you feel when you were dieting?
    • Did you restrict calories?
    • Did you find yourself binging
    • How much time, energy, and money have you spent?
    • Did they work?
      • How did you define success or failure?
• Do you feel guilty when you eat certain “bad” or “forbidden” foods?
• Do you have pain that you are trying to control with food?
• Is food a buffer- Meaning that you use to protect yourself against feelings that you don’t want to feel or deal with?
• Are you an emotional eater?

Connections between emotions and food:

What is your cultural programming?

• How where you fed as a child?
  • Did you sit down for family meals or did you eat on the go?
    • What affect has this had on you?
    • What foods were typical?
  • What kinds of food habits/ rituals do you have? Where did they develop?
• Were you ever made you eat? How did this affect you?
• Were you ever discouraged form eating? How has this affected you?
• Was food ever used as punishment or reward?
• What messages were you sent about food/nutrition and health?
• Are there weight police in your life?
  • Who are they?
  • How do they make you feel?