As part of our series on developing a weight loss mindset, here’s an interesting concept… there are two types of food: Primary Foods and Secondary Foods. Secondary Foods are the things you eat to fuel your body, while Primary Foods are the things you need to fuel yourself as a human being – things like your career, your spiritual self, physical activity, relationships, and sexuality.

When these areas of your life are not being properly “fed”, you use Secondary Foods to compensate for their loss. Yet, when these areas of your life are well-nourished, your need for Secondary Foods as a filler for their loss simply disappears.

In simpler terms, when you nurture your need for Primary Foods, you’ll no longer need to overcompensate with unhealthy Secondary Food choices. By working on WHO you are first, in every sense of the word, you’ll no longer feel the need to feed cake, ice cream, and cookies to the unhappy person you’ve become.

It’s a simple fact of life that everyday living will tend to get in the way of making healthy and beneficial choices to remain or get healthier. Yet it’s also true that making the best choice for your body in the current situation is all that you can do and, when you get back to “normalcy” or routine, you can regain that control again by planning, prepping, and cooking to better your life and body. Truly, it’s about making the best choices and the best of times in the moment, and being kind to yourself along this journey of living life.

Making Healthy Primary Food Choices

Nourishment comes in many forms, some more healthy than others. When you focus on making healthy Primary Food choices first, your need to sublimate those otherwise unmet needs with unhealthy snacks or binge eating will disappear from your life.

• Career – While you may not be working the “perfect job”, it is within your power to make the best of every circumstance. Commit to making the best of your situation, and you’ll feel less job related stress, as well as an enhanced sense of increased productivity and satisfaction. Negativity is a killer. If you can’t make a change to find your “Dream Job”, change the way you view your current job, and make it worth doing.
• Spirituality – A positive mindset is fundamental to leading a happier life. There is plenty of research that indicates thinking positively leads to happiness and success, not the other way around. Whatever path you may choose to get there, through meditation, counseling, communing with nature or organized religion, developing a positive sense of Self and becoming more in touch with the world around you will enable you to find success on your journey toward a healthier, happier life.
• Exercise – No one is asking you to become a world class athlete, but you do need to increase your levels of physical activity to lose weight, reduce stress, and feel better. Multiple studies have shown that even 20 minutes of walking a few days a week will release the endorphins that cause you to feel an increased sense of joy. Doesn’t that sound great?
• Relationships – Human beings are social animals. Without healthy relationships, whether with friends, family, or romantic, you’ll tend to feel isolated and unworthy. Strive to become more social with neighbors and business associates. Spend more time with your partner and/or family members. Allow yourself the freedom to spend a bit more emotional energy in building better relationships with anyone and everyone who is important to you. Any risk you fear is actually minimal and, in the long run, you’ll be far better off.
• Sexuality – As you work on improving your sense of self, and increase your sense of self-worth, this area of your life will follow. Allow yourself to feel – and be – sexual, as a form of expression and satisfaction. Again, in the larger perspective, you have little to lose and everything to gain by expressing your sexuality.

Work on making yourself a whole person, with these areas of your life as a priority, and leave unhealthy choices behind.