We often think food is the problem when food is only the messenger…

During a recent client coaching call, my client took a deep breath and asked if she could do a brain dump as she had multiple things on her mind. They ranged from:

• the discomfort she felt in her body

• the desire to go back to a familiar food plan

• the conflict between listening to her body and dieting

• portion control

• stress

• a quieter social life than she prefers

• and more.

It was like an overload of pop rocks going off in her head.

After a few minutes, we settled on one topic and began digging in. We focused on her conflict between the desire for the old familiar food plan (aka the diet and diet food) and the work we have been doing together. She began realizing it was no longer easy for her to get back on "the diet plan." We talked about the typical weight cycling of being on and off a diet, and her growing connection, ability, and confidence to listen to her body.

By reading between the lines, we noticed a subtle story behind the higher-than-usual interest in going back to the "plan." 

To her surprise, once we unpacked her story, she noticed that her preoccupation with food was related to her need for more significant social interaction.

She was "really" struggling with her lack of social nourishment. 

The quality and quantity of our social connections and involvements directly impact our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. She was feeling lonely.

Between working a lot and dealing with some health challenges, her social circle became very quiet. She became aware; she was now ready to engage again. We devised a goal for her to reach out to her friends, plan dinner dates, and have fun weekend activities. Her headspace improved throughout our coaching call because we could identify the true challenge and create a plan. It has been proven that good social connections improve mood, happiness, overall health, and life span.

Take a minute and think about your social nourishment:

• Do you have nourishing social connections?

• Do you have one or more people you can confide in regularly?

• Do you have people in your life you can enjoy activities with regularly?

• Do you have a sense of involvement in a community more significant than yourself?

• Are your social connections rewarding and positive?

• Do you have laughter in your life?

• Are you contributing in a meaningful way to others?

• Can you count on yourself to be there for you?

If you answered no to any of these answers, it might be time to pause and think about how a lack of social nourishment may affect your overall health and your relationship with food and your body.