Food = Fuel: Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your Life

Too many people fall into the trap of viewing food as either their best friend or their worst enemy.  When I was severely obese, food was often my best friend- a source of comfort, an anesthetic, always readily available when I needed it thanks to the drive-thru lane at many nearby fast-food restaurants and the aisles & aisles of processed junk at the local grocery stores. 

To others, food is viewed as the worst enemy.  At times in my weight loss journey, I would look at food as my enemy - the obstacle to me getting thinner.  It is this kind of attitude that can hamper your efforts to lose or maintain your weight (and, at the very worst, can lead to severe eating disorders).  Believe it or not, if you're not fueling your body sufficiently because you're viewing food as an enemy, you can wind up stalling your weight loss or even GAINING weight. 

This fuels you better than McDonald's food!

It wasn't until I was at the point of maintaining a significant weight loss that I began viewing food not as a friend or an enemy, but as fuel for my body.  Interestingly enough, this did not occur until after I had begun engaging in physical activity on a regular basis.  I began to recognize that there were certain foods with nutrients that fueled my body, that improved my metabolism, that caused it to run well and actually made me FEEL worlds better than I did when I was feeding my body with calorie-dense, nutritionally poor crap. 


On days where I made bad food choices due to convenience or temptation sake, I could feel the difference in how my body felt as I went through a workout.  Conversely, when I wasn't feeding my body enough,  I could feel as if I did not have the energy to push through a workout as well as I could when I was properly fueled.  This is when it "clicked" for me and I truly began to view food as FUEL.  This has been KEY to my maintaining my weight loss, and for helping me make smart food choices the majority of the time. 


I have been truly shocked to learn just how few calories some folks have daily when they are dieting in the hopes of dropping pounds fast.  Your body needs fuel to function.  Curious as to how many calories you should be having daily?  Click here, enter in your age, gender, weight, height and activity level and find out your rough daily caloric needs.  It may not be 100% accurate for everyone but it is a sound starting point for most.  Take a look to see how you're doing!

A tip I frequently share with friends is to think about what you're about to eat. Take a moment to consider whether the food you're about to enjoy is good for you. Make an effort to insure that at least 90% of the food choices you're making are truly good for your body.  You don't have to consider any food off limits for eternity, but you should limit your intake of bad foods. 

Have a nutrition tip you'd like to share? Comment below!