The food police seem to be everywhere you go and sometimes they’re even in your head!
In the grocery store, peering into your cart. On the covers of magazines and on the radio. We are constantly being judged or reminded about our lack of a ‘perfect’ diet.
We’re More Worried About Food Than Ever
The fact is that we as a nation are more obsessed than ever about food. Ironically, rates of chronic disease are skyrocketing and there is a general anxiety about food. We often think that our next meal could be the magic bullet or a death sentence, and neither is true!
We need to make a change and stop attaching morality to food. Food isn’t ‘clean’ or ‘dirty.’ It’s just food.
Think about it. The only reason you should have guilt about a food is if you stole it!
What Does Feeling Guilty About Food Choices Do?
It makes you feel ashamed, desperate and out of control. It makes you less likely to pay attention to your body about what it is telling you it needs to feel nourished.
Assigning moral value to food and labeling your choices as good and bad starts to permeate your very being and leads to fixation, and can zap the joy out of life. That translates either into severe deprivation, bingeing, or a cycle that includes both.
What Should I Do Instead?
The better plan is to pay attention to your hunger and satiety cues. Take a moment to reflect and feel what is going on in your body, and if you are in fact hungry, think about what will satisfy you at this very moment.
Then, take a moment to sit down in a distraction-free area, take a deep breath, and enjoy it. If you’ve been on and off diets for longer than you can remember, this will feel like a radical and foreign idea.
Try it. Journal about it. What do you have to lose? Nothing. What do you have to gain? Your health and your sanity.
If you find yourself obsessing about foods as you try to eat to be healthy, and you’re thinking about food for more than 2 hours a day, it might be time for some help. Schedule your complimentary 15-minute Take Action Call with me to find out what it’s like to work with a professional to stop obsessing and start living.
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