Food as Fuel: How I Changed My Relationship With Eating
For most of my life, food wasn’t just food. It was comfort when I was stressed, a reward when I did well, and sometimes just something to do when I was bored.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was using food to solve problems it could never solve. And at over 320 pounds, that relationship with eating was costing me my health, my energy, and my confidence.
Changing that relationship was one of the hardest and most important parts of my journey. It is the reason I now see food not as an enemy or a reward, but as fuel.
Food as Comfort (and Control)
I can look back now and see how food gave me something to hold onto when I felt overwhelmed. It was always there. It was predictable. It was easy.
But comfort came with a cost. After overeating, I felt sluggish, guilty, and frustrated with myself. The very thing I was using to feel better was actually making me feel worse.
That is the tricky thing about food: it is not just physical. It is emotional. And when your emotions drive your eating, it is easy to lose control.
The Shift in Mindset
For a long time, I thought getting healthy meant sacrifice. No pizza. No dessert. No enjoyment. Just bland chicken and salad for the rest of my life.
But what I discovered was the opposite. The real change wasn’t about restriction. It was about reframing.
Instead of seeing food as comfort, I started seeing it as fuel. Fuel for better sleep. Fuel for strength in the gym. Fuel for energy to show up at work and in life.
That shift changed everything.
Building a Better Relationship
Here’s what helped me rebuild my relationship with eating:
Tracking without judgment. At first, I just wrote down what I ate, without trying to be perfect. Awareness came before change.
Prioritizing protein. Hitting a protein goal every day became my anchor. It kept me full, supported muscle growth, and made food feel purposeful.
Allowing flexibility. I didn’t cut out the foods I loved. I just learned balance. A slice of pizza didn’t ruin me. It just became part of the plan.
Separating emotions from choices. I started asking myself, Am I hungry, or am I just stressed? That simple pause created space to make better decisions.
Celebrating nourishment. I stopped thinking of meals as punishment or reward. Food became something that supported my goals instead of working against them.
Why This Matters for Coaching
Now, when I talk to people about nutrition, I don’t just give them macros or meal plans. I help them shift how they think about food.
If you see food as the enemy, you will always feel like you are fighting yourself. If you see food as comfort, you will always struggle with guilt. But if you see food as fuel, everything changes.
You don’t just eat to survive. You eat to perform. To recover. To feel alive.
That is the relationship I want people to have with food.
The Leadership Parallel
This mindset doesn’t only apply to health. It applies to leadership too.
As a leader, I have learned that the “fuel” you give your team — clear communication, trust, encouragement — is just as important as the fuel you give your body. If people don’t have the right inputs, they won’t have the energy to perform at their best.
Food taught me that outputs always reflect inputs. And that is a principle I carry into every area of life.
Freedom, Not Restriction
The biggest myth I had to unlearn was that getting healthy meant giving up pleasure. What I found instead was freedom.
Freedom from the cycle of overeating and guilt. Freedom from constant cravings and crashes. Freedom from the belief that food controlled me.
By seeing food as fuel, I didn’t lose pleasure. I gained purpose. I still enjoy meals, but I enjoy them without regret because I know they are serving me, not holding me back.
Final Thought
Changing your relationship with food isn’t about being perfect. It is about reframing how you see eating.
For me, the shift from comfort and control to fuel and freedom was life-changing. It gave me back my health, my energy, and my confidence.
And it is why I now believe the most important thing you can do for your health isn’t just counting calories or following a diet. It is changing the way you see food.
Because once you see it as fuel, you will never go back.