Do you have lofty expectations about your eating behaviours during this period of Covid-19 isolation?
Or have you expected your eating behaviours not to change, despite significant adjustments in your usual activities and routine?
Setting high expectations about your eating patterns during the current Covid-19 crisis can exacerbate the stress of this period, and complicate your relationship to food and general wellbeing. Isolation has significantly altered our way of life, and it’s fair to expect that your eating behaviours may have changed as a result.
Here are a few possible reasons why:
Your routine may have changed with working from home, or perhaps not working at all
You may have favourite food items you don’t have consistent or easy access to
Maybe you have children or other family members at home with you
Perhaps you’re eating out less than usual, and feeling more pressure to cook for yourself
The social aspect of eating may have changed, and you may be eating on your own more than usual
Not only do these present logistical and practical challenges, but they’re also changes which can disrupt your sense of balance and familiarity. When you encounter new situations you don’t have the necessary tools for (and no one was going to be ready with the ‘perfect’ tools to cope with COVID-19!), it makes sense that your eating patterns and thoughts and feelings about food can be disrupted too.
It’s important to be aware of the significant pressures impacting on your eating during this unusual time, and to offer yourself understanding and compassion for the way you’re responding. Sometimes we can be quick to judge or criticise ourselves for the very same behaviours we would understand in a friend. Learning how to be kind to yourself and to adjust your self-expectations in response to new circumstances is one of the most important tools you can develop to assist with your mental health and wellbeing, and there’s no time like the present to develop and practice the skills of self compassion in response to your eating behaviours.
Here’s a few things to ask yourself to help take the pressure off your eating expectations during Covid-19 isolation:
What changes in your personal circumstances are impacting on your eating behaviours?
How about your mood, are you changing your eating to help deal with your emotions?
Would you judge or criticise a friend who was doing these same behaviours?
How can you offer yourself more self-compassion during this difficult time?
If you need assistance with these issues, reach out to our team to arrange a Telehealth therapy session with one of our skilled Psychologists or Dietitians.
Read more about Self Compassion.