Mindsets are hidden beliefs that affect how we view the world.  They limit and direct our choices, determining the outcomes of our day.  When mindsets intersect food choices, they can become a help or a hindrance to the achievement of our health goals.

 

The epitome of a negative mindset is seen in the old adage about your drinking glass: Is it half full or half empty?  A half-empty view tends to be subtly negative and leaves the door of our mind craving for some food we are avoiding.  The craving leads us to feel deprived. 

 

As feelings of deprivation invade our minds, we tend to want to satisfy our needs any way we can!  And given the next opportunity, we are likely to choose some food to satisfy the craving, even if it goes against our logic and goals.  This is where we find ourselves looking back with regret, at the dessert or meal of forbidden foods we just ate.  On the other hand, if we can’t satisfy our cravings, even if we make the choice not to satisfy them, the next toxic mindset can steamroll over us and catch us off guard. 

 

This is the life isn’t fair, self-pity mindset.  The subtle conversation in our head goes something like, “Poor me, everyone else gets to have_____ !”  To be honest, we call it pouting in children!

Pouting can also lead back to the craving cycle, or it can lead to a host of other manipulative behaviors where we blame others for what we can or can’t eat.  In either case, we make ourselves the victim, as we try to make them feel sorry for us. 

 

In all actuality, this is a place of power for us where we coerce someone else into taking the responsibility for our happiness.  Since they can’t make us happy, we remain in the powerful role of the victim.  A victim has no control over a situation and can easily justify any next bad food choice.

 

Another nasty mindset killer is control.  If everything in life remains the same, we feel like we are in control.  Stepping out in a new direction puts us out of control, and we risk the reality that we may actually fail.  With the risk of failure looming in our mind, we scramble for control and go scurrying back to our comfort zone, a way of eating we have always followed. 

 

In this case it is easier for us to stay the same than to try a new approach to nutrition and health.  Self-talk can involve statements like, “I should never have tried this, I knew it wouldn’t work.  Nothing ever goes right so I might as well not try.”

 

A final and very deadly mindset is the too busy mindset.  In other words, we don’t have time because of our family responsibilities, or job, etc.. In the end, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.  If we don’t take care of our own health, we won’t be around to take care of our family or anything else! 

 

Simply put, this is another form of control where we don’t have to take a risk.  The new twist to the control lie is that someone or something else is actually keeping us from our health dream.  It’s a lose-lose situation.  We don’t risk change, and our loved ones become the ones to blame.  Nasty isn’t it?

 

 

MLB

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Mary Lou Block is a Registered Dietitian at Gothenburg Health. To learn more please reach out to Mary Lou: mblock@gothenburghealth.org or (308)-537-3661.