Musts, Nows, Nevers & Nots

What is your response to this magazine cover? 

How about these? 25 Ways to Eat More Superfoods...  Must Eat Foods...  7 Pantry Staples Every Woman Needs... 25 Fattening Foods You Should Never Eat....7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips... 15 Breakfast Mistakes that cause Weight Gain... Worst Workout Foods... These are all titles of articles from some well known health and fitness magazines and websites.  Confused anyone? To say the least but I have  a lot of other stronger emotions.  Hungry... really hungry.  Guilty... guilty for being hungry. Ashamed... ashamed that I am a grown woman who does not have Dijon mustard in my pantry. Anxious.... Anxious because everything should be done now and apparently I am late. Embarrassed... embarrassed that I have broken Mistake #2 of the 15 by having juice with my breakfast.  Overwhelmed...overwhelmed by the Musts, Nows, Nevers and Nots. So how does one deal with this flood of feelings? Well if I wasn't an emotional eater before, I sure am now as I reach for one of the foods that should never cross my lips.  You guessed it, canned tomatoes.

Human beings are constantly bombarded with daily headlines regarding many things related to health & wellness.  What are the ramifications of the ones with a negative vibe?  It has been proven as this article states, that people who watch violent TV are more likely to be aggressive, specifically that the violence can act as a trigger for stored aggressive thoughts. Sounds a lot like the triggered response of emotional eating described above, right?  The Musts, Nows, Nevers & Nots generated many negative emotions for me.  But I didn't just learn this since becoming an adult.  Nope, we have experienced since childhood the responses which are elicited from negative media.  An article published for the American Psychological Association states "research has found strong associations between increases in advertising for non-nutritious foods and rates of childhood obesity." Another study done by UCLA, written about in the New York Times, came to the conclusion that the commercials specifically were the predictor of obesity risk.  It's important to note that of the 2000 participants, there were not any associations between obesity and commercial-free programming or videos. Watching "The Lion King" is alright, but be careful when watching a football game with all the fast food commercials.  It seems we have been conditioned since an early age on emotional eating. 

Now, what is your response to this magazine cover? 

There are obvious differences between the two magazine covers I have included. Did you feel an opposite reaction to this cover then the first? This cover to me has a much more positive message from the colors(green vs. red), pictures(healthy items vs. bikini actress) and of course the choice in words used.  From this one, there is not one Must, Now, Never or Not. I sure would like to see more covers like this one and we all can do our part by supporting magazines with positive messages regarding health and wellness. But that does not mean that we can eliminate all other media from our view. Here is what I have learned has worked for me when encountering those negative media messages.

How do I learn to defend myself from this unhealthy cycle of negativity leading to overeating? 

Maddie in the "Recognize" step

1. Recognize... Together we have recognized the above print articles, some magazine covers and TV commercials as possible triggers for emotional eating.  But this could happen anywhere and everywhere that you go including the movie theater, grocery store, social gatherings, coffee shops, even health clubs. There are triggers everywhere and many of us don't even know it. Learn to recognize. 
2. Observe... Once you have recognized scenarios or situations, then begin to observe your reactions. Don't make any changes to your behavior yet, just see what your gut response would be. I used to read all the health and fitness magazines to see the latest tricks and diets.  I would immediately feel inferior especially for not ever being able to look like that models/actresses.   For writing down triggers and your reactions to review in the future, Journaling would be beneficial.  
3. Armor... Find your armor for your own triggers.  Most likely, there won't be anything physically that you can do to stop your reactions. Mostly your armor will be remaining mentally strong and resisting your urges.  I now look at those magazines and remember that this is their profession to look a certain way and with that comes an extreme amount of work related stress. Stress I choose not to have in my life.  With each resistance, you will feel success. 

It's silly to think that we are going to overhaul today's media just by taking these steps.  Although it's not so silly to think that as individuals we have the knowledge and capability to recognize, observe and armor ourselves against all the Musts, Nows, Nevers & Nots that we encounter on a daily basis. And with each success, you are on your way to the healthiest, happiest you.