Diet and Habits
Dec 12, 2023 • 8 min
How can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and mindfulness help me have a healthier diet and habits, for good mental and physical health?
Changes in appetite and diet form a key mechanism in many a vicious depressed or anxious cycle. Energy levels deplete further, self esteem can take a dip and we can become chaotic in what and when we eat. In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) we assume that routines are fundamentally good for us humans, and that we derive a lot more comfort from them than we appreciate. Take jet lag or a full sleepless night for example. We don’t know what we’ve got till it’s gone and can easily feel rattled without routine; reaching for the biscuits and hoping our ideal self will kick in and take control tomorrow.
What we’re aiming for, for good gut health, energy levels, and mental health, is for our body to be conditioned to a schedule that suits it. Expecting and anticipating nutritious enjoyable food, and having time to digest it before the next meal. I am not talking about physical ideals or the pursuit of perfection here. It’s a long game but a rewarding one to enjoy and care for the bodies we’re lucky enough to inhabit. If you are finding it hard to eat and your appetite has reduced, it is just as important to follow a routine and start with foods that are easy to swallow and digest like smoothies, yogurts and soups. If you are concerned about significant weight change please do see your GP.
Keeping a baseline diary is a great start. I’ll be uploading some soon. It’s super helpful to attempt a week’s record of what you’re eating and when. Then some time to reflect. You have a good knowledge of your body by now, what really suits it best? Larger breakfasts, smaller dinners? More veg at lunch? Not so much what ‘should’ you be doing but what do you know, in your heart of heart suits you? What are the sticky points in the week? A treasured take away on a Friday might be a wonderful thing, buying crisps and chocolate every Tuesday on the way back from swimming might not be. I’m not being judgey or encouraging you to be, but would an apple and a bag of nuts in your bag help? Look at the week in full - however you best organise yourself - and meal plan for the week. Which meals won’t you have any time to prep? Could you bulk cook something simple? As best you can, go back to basics, decide what meal times suit you best and schedule them in.
With a solid routine in place it's easier to trust that your body will know when it is full, and crave what is good for it rather than a short term fix as blood sugar levels fluctuate. It’s then a lovely process to start to eat intuitively. Choosing what and how much you eat based on your body’s needs. Of course there will be real world constraints such as what is in the fridge, who else you are feeding and whether you can be bothered to try any of this. But whatever you do find in front of you for your meals, it can be helpful to imagine briefly you have never seen anything like it before in your life. Explore colours, shapes and smells for as long as you can bear before you start. Take a moment to appreciate the supply chains involved; the soil, sun, soil, farmers, trucks, pollinators and more that have gotten this food onto your plate. Notice any saliva building in your mouth and feelings of anticipation in the body. This mindful moment will give your digestive system time to fire up and help you attend to pleasure and joy in your meal, your to-do list can wait.
What role does food play for you. Is it to comfort? Treat? To pass the time? Is it sociable? If you are eating more frequently than you need, consider scheduling in other activities as well as your meals, to give you a dose of this other need. For example as well as for the obvious nourishment I eat as a treat, for stimulation, to distract myself from stress. If I can schedule in some time with a friend, regular meals and some mindfulness over the week I’m much less likely to do something odd like eat a multipack of icecreams.
If your food is mostly fresh and things your grandma would have heard of, you are doing really well. Processed foods leave us overfed and undernourished. Some simple hacks are to aim for 2/3 of the plate to be fruit or veg and have some protein with every meal. Increasing fiber (green veg ideally) and drinking plenty of water between meals will help sustain you for longer.
Mindfulness has offerings for us here. Through regular meditation we can ensure that we are entering into the rest and digest state of the parasympathetic nervous system. If we’re stressed or anxious, we are full of adrenaline and our digestive systems are inhibited. Tummy problems are common when anxiety levels are high, IBS too if this is sustained over time. About five minutes into mediation I regularly hear my digestive system fire up, a low cheerful gurgling like a boiler. Practicing meditation regularly helps us harness the gut mind connection and is known to be helpful in relieving IBS symptoms. A pregnant lady I worked with recently found that her blood sugar levels were safe on days when she meditated, and diabetic levels when she didn’t. As you can tell I'm evangelical. She is too now!
Mindful eating exercises invite us to slow down and come to our senses. Notice textures, smells and colours before we even put the food in our mouth. Attending to all sensation with curiosity in each moment. Do you sometimes find that your last bite of food is your favourite? I’ve realised that unless I’m careful I race through the rest and it’s only the last bite I really pay any attention to. It takes ten minutes for food to hit ‘the bottom’ and for us to feel full. If we are guzzling we are much more likely to overeat. Attending to the pleasure of eating, the joy of the food and not rushing it enrichens the experience and enhances our digestion. Attending to pleasure and joy when we feel it is a good start to lift a depression. Let's not villainize food, it’s a real pleasure and privilege.
I think it’s healthier to avoid any drastic January self improvement urges but it’s hard to ignore the annual urge to get moving and slightly reduce the mince pie intake. To ride this wave usefully you could consider short, medium and long term goals. Mine are to start running short distances, increase my attendance at the yoga studio, practice portion control and increase intake of greens, maintain target number of alcohol free evenings per week and continued non smoking. In three months time I’d like to be running 5k weekly.
It’s worth considering rewards as a way to reinforce good habits. Endorphins will hopefully kick in pretty fast but if you’re low and or anxious sometimes these normal reward systems function differently. Unfairly this makes it harder to form healthy new habits when we need them the most. Scheduling in nice things as treats - a bubble bath and podcast, meal with a friend or whatever floats your boat - and saying ‘i really deserve this, I did well to stick to my schedule this week’ can help new habits stick. I’m going to allow myself a monthly sports massage if I pull of my target exercises and manage continue to resist smoking. You could also play with imagery - imagining how you want to be eating, exercising, behaving, and how this might make you feel. In CBT we call this ‘imaginal exposure’. It’s known to help motivation, bridging intention and action. Avoid aiming for an insanely perfect version of yourself, it’s healthier to think about smaller incremental changes and imagine these gently and with kindness. Chances are you’re perfect just the way you are; and that there’s always room for small improvements.