Think for a minute about your relationship with food. If food were a person, would you think of that relationship as being a healthy one? And what would other people who really knew how you and food behaved around one another think?

What is Meaningful Matters?

If your relationship with food is not the kind of relationship you would think of as being healthy, then let’s take a minute and consider what might be important in order for you to develop a healthy relationship with food. Begin by asking two questions:

1)    What has meaning to me in terms of my relationship with food?

a.    It is meaningful that my relationship with food involves choices that give my body nutrition.

b.    It is meaningful that the food I eat is pleasurable in addition to being nutritious.

2)    What matters to me in terms of my relationship with food?

a.    It matters that when I eat food, I feel pleased (not guilty or upset) about what I’ve eaten.

b.    It matters that food and eating take up a relatively small amount of time in my day, both physically and mentally (meaning I don’t graze or snack often and I don’t think about food all day).

Is your relationship with food healthy?

The statements above reflect your Meaningful Matters in terms of your relationship with food. Condensed into one sentence, your Meaningful Matters might sound like this: My food choices are nutritious for my body and taste good; my food choices leave me feeling physically and emotionally satisfied so I am free to use the majority of my time to enjoy other areas of my life.

Obtaining Meaningful Matters

Here’s how you obtain Food Freedom using your Meaningful Matters....you ask one simple question and base your eating decisions on the answer.

The question you ask is this: If I eat this __(name of food item)__, will it move me closer to, or further from, what I say is meaningful to me in terms of my relationship with food?

If eating that food will move you farther from what YOU have said is meaningful to you, then you would be wise not to eat that thing.

That’s food freedom.

No debate in your head about whether or not you eat something. If eating something is going to result in you feeling physically ill (for example, you may experience dumping when you eat sugar) or you feel angry with yourself if you eat calorie-filled junk food, then eating that certain food would move you away from what YOU have said is important to you.

Be true to yourself! Make yourself proud. And keep it simple!

Write down the Meaningful Matters for your relationship with food and ask that one simple question. End of discussion.

Try it!