Self-Care and Our Eating Habits
- Jul 24
- 2 min read
Written by: Andrea Kennedy, RD CDE CIEC
What do you do to take care of yourself? How do you meet your basic needs and manage stress? July 24th is International Self Care Day. Self care has been more promoted throughout the years as it is recognized to have more of a benefit to our well-being and is especially more important nowadays that we are accessible 24/7 with how technology has evolved. It is typically seen as something relaxing such as a bubble bath or a mini spa day when really, self-care can mean a variety of different things to different people. Self care can be anything that tends to your basic needs. It can be anything from attending your medical appointments to connecting with loved ones to turning down extra projects if you are feeling overscheduled.
When our self-care suffers for whatever reason, the consequences can be seen in other areas of our life including our eating habits. A lack of self-care can negatively affect our eating habits as it makes it more likely that we are going to go for comfort food, eat when we are not hungry or the opposite (forget to eat at all). A lack of self-care can make it hard to muster up the energy to prepare a nutritious meal and it can just lead to you feeling physically unwell so the last thing you want to think about is eating. It can be easy for someone to tell you eat three meals a day or limit certain foods when you look just at the surface but if there is a deeper reason why you eat the way you do and changing those habits can become really tough unless those reasons are explored. That’s why when we find ourselves struggling with making changes to our eating habits, it’s important to stop and look at how we are doing with our self-care. What are we looking at when considering how we are doing with our self-care? Below are some questions you can ask yourself. If you say no to any of them, perhaps it might be something you can consider working on.
Am I getting enough sleep?
Am I attending my medical appointments?
Do I wear clothing that I like and make me feel comfortable?
Am I involved in physical activity?
Do I take time to do some self-reflection?
Do I take time to relax and have fun?
Do I have compassion for myself?
Do I spend time with people who I enjoy and support me?
Do I say no to extra projects when I am feeling overscheduled?
Do I eat regular meals?
Do I take the time to stop and enjoy food?
Do I connect with someone when I am feeling upset?
Do I consider what I am grateful for?
If you find that you are still struggling with making changes with your eating habits or even learning more about how self-care affects our eating habits, you can make an appointment with our Registered Dietitian, Andrea Kennedy by calling 825-3235 (Terrace Bay) or 824-2934 (Schreiber).
