You can have a healthy relationship with food. If you?re on Instagram, you know it?s filled with perfectly curated photos of someone?s salad, smoothie bowl, ?cheat day? meal, or [insert trendy food here]. Have you ever seen my Instagram? I don’t eat pretty, I just eat LOL.

I have not always had a healthy relationship with food. As a recovering binge eater and diet pill addict. Always using food as a crutch. Eating my feelings in private.

There are so many different ways you can look at food. I am going to be totally honest, sometimes I DO look at a piece of cake and just think “well this is how I get fat” and then if I do eat it, I don’t enjoy it. No one is perfect, we are all a work in progress!

Here are 5 ways to have a healthy relationship with food.

1.Eat food for fuel and health, not to suppress emotions. Emotional eating is SUCH a hard thing for people who like to ‘eat their feelings’. People with a healthy relationship to food view it as a source of fuel. Helps it run efficiently and makes you FEEL good! Food won’t make you feel better and if you’re eating to make you feel better it probably will make you feel worse.

2. Eat intuitively. This is DEFINITELY easier said than done. It’s just saying to eat what your body needs and you’re thinking “my body needs chocolate” but once you get your eating under control with a plan you begin to know what you body needs. This will take time but if you already do this, you are well on your way.

3. Don’t punish yourself when you don’t eat perfectly. Just because you had a brownie does not mean you need to workout for 3 hours or eat salad for 3 days. ENJOY it and know that you don’t need to kill yourself for eating it.

4. Don’t allow food to dictate your life. I literally used to stay home from parties because I was worried about eating in front of others, now I usually have my shake before I do to help me stay in control. Then I can enjoy all the food in moderation and not be embarrassed to eat in front of others.

5. Don’t compare. Our bodies aren?t meant to look like one another and we aren?t all supposed to look like supermodels or superheroes. This is YOUR journey and you should enjoy every moment so don’t waste time wondering why SHE is skinnier!

You can create a healthy relationship with food