Break Ups and Bad Food

Before I get started with this blog, you should know that this is not going to be me rehashing some recent love life drama as the title might have led you to believe.

For those of you who do not know me (Dr. Justine), I am an unmarried, 26 year old chiropractor.

I am now at an age and place in life where many of my friends are either getting married or breaking up. Everyone is concerned with finding Mr. or Mrs. Right.

All of a sudden, many of my peers have decided we are too old to squander the prime years of our adulthood on someone who is not potential marriage material. So I have had MANY relationship talks with friends over the past few months.

Since I am always thinking about food and living By Design, it should not surprise you that I have started to see patterns in these relationship talks and have applied them to eating By Design.

How often have you said and/or heard someone say, “You should end it. Never stay in a relationship that does not make you happy. He/she is not good for you.”

Great advice! Look at the qualities of the person you are dating, determine how much their values align with yours, if they are not making your life better, it is time to walk away. Or you never should have dated them in the first place.

And hey, since you are single and emotional, we should eat a tub of Ben & Jerry’s and drink a lot of liquor.

It is funny how the principle behind this great relationship advice does not get applied to the other areas of peoples’ lives. Like health.

Can we talk about breaking up with bad food, like grains? Well-meaning advice: “You should end it. Never eat food that does not make you healthy. Grains are not good for you.” It’s the SAME advice. Look at the qualities of the food you are eating, determine how much value that food is adding to your health, if it is not making your health better, it is time to walk away. You never should have eaten it in the first place.

And whatever you do, DO NOT get back together.

We all know the on-again-off-again relationships always end badly. You say you want to end it, you say you know it is not the best thing for you, but you keep going back for the familiarity and the comfort. You do it even though it makes you feel crappy, even though it is a roller coaster ride of confusion, self-doubt and self-sabotage.

Eating unhealthy food is the same pattern of comfort seeking behavior. Every time you go back to it, for comfort and familiarity, you get burned. It does not feel good, it hurts your self-esteem, it confuses your body and sabotages your health goals.

In bad break ups and bad food, it is best to cut it off completely and never look back. It is hard, emotional and uncomfortable. But you CAN form new habits with food and people who are healthy for you and contribute value to your life.

Here is a fun activity:

Next time you catch yourself looking at a cup cake, piece of pie or chocolate chip cookie, which somehow got a million times more attractive since your ‘break up,’ think about how much better you are with out them in your life. And maybe, sing a little Taylor Swift – “Weeeeee are never, ever, EVER getting back together!”