How do you Identify with Food?
Thankfully, we live in a world that is asking the questions regarding how one identifies oneself. As examples, when one applies for a job, a loan, or school, a list of identities are provided ranging from race to ethnicity to abilities to veteran status. How do you identify?
We can debate the ethical issues around this data collection. That is not the point of this article. The point here is that how one identifies with food, the most basic necessity for survival, literally can determine life or death, and most certainly at a minimum happiness, anxiety, illness, quality of life, in between.
Glenn Livingston, Ph.D., wrote in Psychology Today that there are two types of motivation necessary to lose weight. Extrinsic motivation, or motivation derived from outside yourself and intrinsic motivation, or motivation derived from inside yourself. Dr. Livingston states that extrinsic motivation may well be a great initial “kickstart” to your weight loss journey. Perhaps a recent visit to your physician resulted in advice to lose weight or risk certain disease. Fired up, you start dieting immediately.
And then what? We forget. The initial blast from the doctor’s visit or whatever occurred, softens in our memories and the resolve we had softens with it.
In my opinion, this quote from Dr. Livingston’s article, “For a more permanent change, you’ll need to muster reasons from within and allow yourself to become a different kind of person with regards to food than you’ve been to this point. Long-lasting weight loss requires at least some identity change,” may very well be the very basis for so many unhappy, overweight/obese Americans. Let’s explore why:
Raise your hand if:
you want to be able to eat what you want, when you want it.
you think you can’t afford healthy food.
you think once you lose the weight this time, it will be for good and you will never have to watch what you eat again.
you know what you should do, you just don’t feel like doing it.
First of all, if you identify with one or all of the above, you are not alone. Second, if you identify with one or all of the above, can you imagine it any other way? Looking just at science, knowing it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound, can you imagine that will always be the case - literally until the end of time? And that likewise, if there is a surplus of calories adding up to 3500, weight will be gained, no matter what?
“You must allow yourself to become a different kind of person in relation to food.”
What does that look like for you? Who do you want to be? Who do you want your family, friends and community to see? You can choose to be the person who picks up lunch at the drive thru, taking in empty calories high in fat that do nothing for you. If that works for you. If that isn’t working for you anymore. If you long to feel different, move different, look different, then you must live different.
And, it is possible!
Dr. Livingston goes on to stay that the extrinsic motivation to get you started and going for awhile is great and provides the time for you to develop your intrinsic motivation. “In short, in order to muster enough intrinsic motivation to lose weight permanently, a person must feel confident in their ability to succeed, believe they have independently chosen their dietary rules without too much outside influence, and ideally have a sense of belonging with people who support them in their goal.” Can you imagine that cultivating these three feelings can allow one to “become a person who is confident they can and will lose weight through healthy means and keep it off, a person in charge of their own healthy eating habits, and a person who feels connected to others who also want to live a healthy lifestyle?”
Can you allow yourself to become a different kind of person in relation to food? What opportunities do you see for change? How would changing your relation to food, change your life?