Eating healthier as part of your lifestyle should not result in an unhealthy attitude to food, often resulting in excessive stress and a negative impact in your physical, mental or social well-being.
This article explains:
what the goal of the Daily9 programme is in terms of improving your lifestyle, and
how you can differentiate this from potential eating disorders, and when to seek help.
Eating healthier on the D9 programme
It is important to eat a well-balanced diet, to ensure that you get all the nutrients you need to:
stay healthy;
improve your immunity; and
avoid the risk of illnesses and diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related diseases.
For many people, this may mean that you need to lose some fat, and work towards achieving a better bodyweight and waist-to-height ratio.
When you are on the D9 programme, it is expected that you would be more aware of your eating patterns and habits, and try to improve on them with a view to eating healthier. At the same time, you should be aware that the aim of the D9 programme is NOT to make you feel guilty for not achieving a perfect plate every time or every day.
Instead, the main goal is to make you aware of how to eat healthier so that you feel better. The idea is not to be perfect all the time – it is to aim to generally have a healthier lifestyle and be consistent about it. An occasional treat is perfectly alright as long as your diet is generally healthy.
What are eating disorders and when should you be concerned
An eating disorder is when you have an unhealthy attitude to food, which can take over your life and make you ill. It can involve eating too much or too little, or becoming obsessed with your weight and body shape. They most commonly affect young women aged 13 to 17 years old, but men and women of any age can get an eating disorder.
Types of eating disorders
The most common eating disorders are:
anorexia nervosa – when you try to keep your weight as low as possible by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or both
bulimia – when you sometimes lose control and eat a lot of food in a very short amount of time (bingeing) and are then deliberately sick, use laxatives, restrict what you eat, or do too much exercise to try to stop yourself gaining weight
binge eating disorder (BED) – when you regularly lose control of your eating, eat large portions of food all at once until you feel uncomfortably full, and are then often upset or guilty
other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) – when your symptoms do not exactly match those of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder, but it does not mean it's a less serious illness
OSFED is the most common, then binge eating disorder and bulimia.
If you or people around you are worried that you have an unhealthy relationship with food that's affecting your eating habits, you could have an eating disorder.
Symptoms of eating disorders include:
spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape
avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved
eating very little food
eating a lot of food and very fast
tending to lie about how much and when you have eaten, or how much you weigh
deliberately making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat
exercising too much
having very strict habits or routines around food
changes in your mood
You may also notice physical signs, including:
feeling cold, tired or dizzy
problems with your digestion
your weight being very high or very low for someone of your age and height
not getting your period for women and girls
If you feel you or anyone around you may have an eating disorder, it is important to seek advice immediately from a medical professional.
Be aware, and make sure you have a healthy relationship with your food!
Click here to read about more situations needing medical attention.