Ah, food! It can be a friend, foe, necessity or luxury. No one can deny its importance, because without it, we'd just wither away and die. So like it or not, food is one of the most important things in our lives. We relate to it every day, usually several times a day, because we have no choice.

Of course, for most of us, food is far more than just physical nourishment. It's pleasure. It's emotional nourishment. Or it's the enemy. Each individual has his or her own unique relationship with food, which tends to be remarkably constant over time. This is because we learn to relate to food early in life, taught by our parents, our peers, and unfortunately, the advertising media. Over time, our patterns of interaction with food solidify and become more and more difficult to change. But even after many years, change is still possible if we become aware of our behavior.

With any behavior change, awareness is the first step. This may seem trivial, but it's not. Much of our behavior is unconscious, meaning out of our awareness. This is especially true with routine, repeated behaviors such as those that concern food. In order to become aware of them, you have to stop and analyze what you're doing. It's also important to look at how you're feeling, because every behavior is associated with a feeling or attitude, And attitude always precedes behavior.

Our Eating Behavior Assessment helps you become aware of how you relate to food. It may turn out that you and food get along just fine, in which case you can just continue to eat without thinking. But if you're like most of us, you and food may not always get along. Or perhaps you and food get along too well at times. Either way, if you're relationship with food is not balanced, you may face some challenges with your weight, your health, and/or your mood.

After we've explored some key aspects of your relationship with food, as well as some of your beliefs regarding food, we summarize these for you so that you can be aware of your unconscious attitudes and behaviors. We also give you advice on changing these so that they are more conducive to good physical and emotional health. This assessment should be fun, so enjoy, but don't overeat!