You are not born with an intrinsic love for processed, sugary food. But you may assume, like most of us, that your brain has everything it needs to do its job well.

However, is it reasonable to think that your brain would serve you best when you are overtired, undernourished, and overstressed from work? Just like your car, your brain needs to be regularly serviced to function optimally and prioritize your best interests.

Service your brain

Let your brain be your best friend. Check that you are nourishing it. While you are not born with an intrinsic love for processed, sugary food. However, when you have three coffees with milk and honey a day, you may stimulate your cerebral reward system too much and too frequently. Over time, you “hijack” your brain’s reward pathway, leaving you wanting more of the food that makes you feel tired and overwhelmed.

Train your brain

Strong emotional experiences shape your brain and these past emotional experiences may derail your “value-tagging” system. This is when you start a healthy eating plan but don’t believe you will be able to keep it up. You soon find yourself giving into temptations and making bad choices.

You can train your brain on what you want to believe. When someone tells me: “I can’t get rid of milk and honey in my coffee” or more generally “I’ve never been able to do that”, maybe that’s true. But is it useful for you right now? For each thought you are aware of, you can choose to think of something that gives you the drive to get the results you want. Belief is not about denial but awareness.

“It’s not magic. It’s just you see the possibilities to move forward with your dreams in a way that your brain was hiding from you previously” – Dr. Tata Swart – The source

Unapologetic brain

As we are social creatures, our brains lead us towards being accepted by our tribe. Fear of being rejected makes us comply with social “normality” most of the time. That’s why we end up accepting the offered cake when we know it will leave us bloated and in pain.

When you enter the dilemma of pleasing, not being a trouble, or blending in, versus taking care of yourself, you end up tired, overwhelmed, and heavy.

To (re)gain access to your deepest intrinsic wisdom and personal power, two systems will help you: your sense of interoception (listening to your body’s messages) and your intuition (paying attention to what your “gut instinct” is telling you).

You are the only one that deserves the eating and lifestyle choices you make. When you come back to your inner sense of worthiness, you can determine YOUR goal, YOUR intention, and YOUR specific needs.