Guilt is so insidious. It subtly eats you up, paralyses you and keeps you from making progress.
The time you would have used for something constructive, you waste it in condemning yourself.
You spend time agonizing over when you have been good and when you have been bad and conclude that you have no will power and no shame …… at all. Who else will keep doing the same thing day after day, month after month after promising; crossed heart and all never to do it again?
Have you not noticed that the moment something is forbidden it becomes “sinfully” attractive?
Last week I was working and there were 2 novels on my desk. One was a crime – thriller by Patricia Cornwell, the other book was romance. My 3 kids were sitting round me.
The novels were stacked on each other and held no attraction whatsoever for my 2 sons. The moment my daughter said that she prefers Patricia Cornwell; that the other novel had an adult theme and is not okay for children, my son’s eyes lit up and they suddenly found the book very attractive and reached for it at once.
That is the power of forbidden things. It makes them attractive.
Grouping food into good and bad makes the bad ones very attractive and eating them makes you feel that you have done a bad thing.
Everything you experience afterwards that is negative is caused by the food
Needle on scale climbs up or does not budge: It is that food (You can add your own food blame here)
The fight you have with some food should not be. The guilt you have when you eat cake should not be.
Guilt can make you throw caution away and go on an all out “since I have eaten the cake and failed I might as well eat the ice cream. What’s the point I’m going for the doughnut as well.
Any diets that give you a list of forbidden things from day 1 without even trying to find out anything about you should be viewed with suspicion. They all promote food obsession. You keep counting calories and peering at everything with suspicion till you become obsessed and it snuffs out the light from life.
You are not a robot – even robots make mistakes. You are a human being that makes mistakes. Be kind to yourself.
Food guilt can lead to eating disorder. Guilt can make you want to throw up what you have eaten and if you are not careful, you might actually start heading down the path of eating disorder.
Just because you did not make healthy choice today or did not work out today should not leave you riddled with guilt and shame.
You are not a failure
It is not possible to make absolutely healthy choices every time. You may miss your work out; you may eat something with a lot of calories.
Yes, it’s called life and it happens to all of us!
How to stop food guilt
# 1 Ask yourself these questions:
- What made you decide not to eat the food?
- What made you eat it anyway?
- What will help you next time so you will not eat what you do not want when it is not planned?
- Is it food prep?
- Is it weekly grocery shopping?
- Is it having healthy snacks all the time?
# 2 Focus on progress not perfection
I would be lying if I told you my diet is perfect and I follow my nutrition to a T. I slip, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally but I move on. I refuse to feel guilty or agonize over what would have been.
I dispassionately find out why I slipped and decide on the best action to take the next time I will be faced with such a situation.
It may be simply having apple and yogurt in my bag next time I decide to go for my weekly grocery shopping.
If it’s intentional, I enjoy myself and move on
# 3 Give your body the nutrients it needs
Cravings can be a result of not giving your body the nutrients it craves, so it will keep making you hungry to see if maybe……maybe you can give it Monounsaturated fat and not Bounty chocolate?
Strive for balance
If you follow diet plans that eliminate carbs completely, you will crave sugar. There is no horrible or good food. They are all okay in moderation
Once you start seeing food as just what it is food – fuel for your body you will find that the power of that food over you will be broken. Food will now bring pleasure and not guilt.
If you can focus on eating healthy and nutritious food at least 80-90% of the time, you will be just fine and achieve your goal.
# 4 Define what weight loss and being healthy means to you
This is very important because what works for Sandra might not work for you.
You do not have the same body type or goal; someone might want curves while you want weight loss.
Decide why you want to lose weight and set realistic goals for yourself.
Above all permit yourself to enjoy healthy food, learn what you can do better next time, plan to do better next time and move on.
Consideration
If you are on a diet plan because of health issues and it is recommended by your Doctor, be sure to stick to it.
If you feel you may be addicted to a particular food and need to binge on it daily and it’s affecting your heath, you will do well to seek for professional help
However, if you are on a 7 days rapid weight loss fad diet that is making you tired, hungry and ready to eat everything that is forbidden. Stop and build a good relationship with food first.
Do you battle with food guilt?Let me know how you get over it by leaving your comments below.