The Mental Impact of Food Sensitivities

Your stomach is hurting, gas, bloating, constipation, blood in your stool. At this point it is scary to eat anything at all.

Your whole life you have been able to eat what you want. After a series of visits to many doctors you have accepted that diet change is a must. Acceptance may be a strong word. It is more like you know what you need to do but have no idea where to start.

Working around food sensitivities is a lifestyle

For those who have never really had to watch what they eat it is a lifestyle change coupled with a grief process. Grief of the foods you once enjoyed, grief over the loss of the socialization factors food bring into our lives, grief around how you feel like your body is betraying you.

There are many theories around why so many food sensitivities are coming about in today’s society

I will leave the etiology (cause) to the scientists. According to food allergy.org, 32 million Americans suffer from food allergies. The numbers for food sensitivities are unknow. Many people are walking around with ailments caused by food sensitivities and don’t even know about it. Eating a food you are sensitive to often has consequences that aren’t seemingly related to your habits because affects are in most cases accumulative.

Food sensitivities verses food allergies

Food allergies are when your immune system responds to a food causing an immediate allergic reaction. Food sensitivities are less severe, and symptoms are usually delayed for days resulting in abdominal discomfort, rash or lethargy, etc.

The way you feel about the necessity of changing your eating habits is normal

In fact, however you feel, positive or negative, your feeling is in the normal range! Some folks may feel really excited about being forced into a change they were wanting to enact anyway. At Greenway Therapy we find most people struggle with giving up certain foods with addictive qualities like, sugar, carbohydrates, and caffeine.

You may want dive right into loving your body and taking care of yourself but find the cravings all-consuming when you take a stab at it.

Take the changes you make slowly

Surely you learned somewhere what healthy food is. However, you may have no clue how to prepare it or WHAT to prepare. Educate yourself slowly. Pick one or two habits at a time to begin adjusting and scaffold (make gradual changes) your habits towards your ultimate goals. Be prepared for changes you intact to take 3-6 months to get used to.

You can fall off the wagon just as easily as you can get back on and vice versa

You will fall off the wagon. You will need to define what that means to YOU. Is 1 treat falling off the wagon or is an entire week of fast-food falling off the wagon? You need to decide and have measures in place in your mind. You may need a health coach or dietician to help you with this as to avoid developing an unhealthy relationship to food.

Everything in moderation. You aren’t expected to be a robot. Because food sensitivities most often have accumulative qualities as far as consequences go, you may be okay with a cheat meal here and there. You will get to know your body and gain deeper understanding of what it can sustain vs not.

Have food ready for yourself

Learn to meal prep. This doesn’t always mean spending your Sunday making meals for the week. It could simply mean waking 15 minutes earlier in the morning so you can be more intentional about your first meal of the day and leaving time to pack your lunch. Many people who do not enjoy making meals in bulk find making extra food at dinner time will leave them with leftovers they can use for lunch or dinner the next day.

Seek counseling

It is normal and expected that you may feel depressed, anxious, angry, sad, frustrated, overwhelmed, and betrayed by your body.

There are therapists out there that specialize in medical issues, pain and also your relationship to food. Health coaches or dieticians are sometimes a help navigating the emotional impact of a sudden need to change habits as well.

We wish you the best of luck. Please call the office with any questions or to set up a counseling appointment.