Food Word Positivity

How your Letterboard Could be Influencing your Ideas about Food

I just purchased a new letter board a couple of months ago and I'm obsessed. It was one of those trends I didn't want to give into just because it was cool but ended up genuinely loving it once I had one. However, every time I go to change what it says I am reminded of the power our words have. As fun as it is to have a sarcastic saying, is what's hanging on our walls affirming our best self or making ourselves less accountable to it? It got me to thinking about how we can use words we associate with food for good. In other words, I set out to find food positive phrases.

Self-affirmations have been a hot topic in recent years, but do they really do anything about how our brain works and processes things? Could simply changing a poster really influence our produce picks? In one study by the Journal of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (1), they set out to find the underlying brain mechanisms behind self-affirmations, which they define as "acts that affirm one’s self-worth, often by having individuals reflect on core values, which may give individuals a broader view of the self...can allow individuals to move beyond specific threats to self-integrity or self-competence." Essentially they mapped brain activity in response to self-affirmation to see what was happening. Their results showed that interventions of self-affirmation had the ability to increase how receptive a person is to health messages designed to reduce negative behaviors.

Did you catch that??? If your're not a scientist, all that's basically saying is that the words we choose to read and believe about our health can have an affect on our wellness and quality of life. So yes, the words you choose to put up on your walls can make a difference.

While pithy Pinterest findings are certainly fun sayings to put up, consider being more intentional about your lettering and decor choices. For example, I've included some of my favorite, food positive letter boards below.

A good rule of thumb is to focus on positive, affirming words (remember the study above?). Anything focused on dieting, avoidance, restriction, or even just including words like "no", "hate", or "never" can detract from your positive progress. Your goal should be to encourage yourself towards accountability and awareness regarding your food, health, and overall wellness. Be intentional about the words you are saying to yourself and honor yourself as an individual. What might be funny for one person could be a harmful belief for you. Choose words that motivate you towards good habits or patterns and remind you of clean eating and your own empowerment. Evaluate things based on the degree of cleanliness, purity, and forward-moving flow that they will bring to not only your eating habits but the space in which you eat and prepare food. The more you make this a goal, the more positivity you will be aware of and attract into your kitchen and beyond. Make word choices that give you energy, balance, rest, and life, or whatever else you feel you need to create space for that this time in your life.

Another practice is to think of a mom writing a note on a napkin for her kid's lunch and think of telling that child those words. Actually, literally speaking those things to them, and considering what the child would learn about their relationship with food solely based on those words. We all have an "inner child" so to speak, and if you've dealt with negative food patterns it's even more important to take care of that kid and help them build more positive, mature, and affirming ideas about a healthy food relationship. What do you wish for that child to believe and honor about eating? What words could set a positive example and make eating an empowering experience for them? What patterns do you want to encourage?

What are your letter boards and home decor saying these days? I want to see! Tag me in them (@theannifeed) or use #theANNIfeed. Can't wait to see what you come up with! Happy lettering.

Other Ideas

This post focused on letter boards, but the posibilities for positivity are endless. Here are some prints, posters, and other decor that are sure to affirm your healthiest, most whole self.