The Good Food / Bad Food Trap

What if there was no right way to eat?

What if you were the best person to decide how you eat?

What if you could decide day to day what you want to eat? And include foods, sometimes, that you like to eat…. and actually, trust yourself with those foods?

The most common wish I hear from physicians is to lose weight and reach goals without always feeling like you are on a diet.

Sound familiar?

So, why is the most commonly asked question in weight loss how to eat in order to lose weight?

The question becomes, how do you approach your personal weight loss journey without actually feeling like you are on a diet your whole life? The answer is simple…..

Don’t be on a diet your whole life.

Being on an external diet creates restrictions that may not work for you. Think about it…when was the last time you enjoyed being told what to do? When you are no longer in control of decisions you are less likely to follow through. Instead, if you approach it in a way that you can lose weight while still, occasionally, enjoying certain foods and living in a way that makes you happy you are more likely to be successful in the long run.

So, what is the “Good Food/Bad Food” trap? You have these ideas of what “good” foods and “bad” foods are, and you’ve spent a lot of time thinking certain things about foods. When you eat “good” foods, you probably feel pretty good about it! But, when you eat a so-called “bad” food, your brain kicks in and tells you that you are doing something wrong or that you’ve failed in some way. You spend the whole time eating thinking about how you shouldn’t be. Your brain probably even goes as far as to tell you that this may be your only chance to eat this food so….you should take advantage of it! And you keep going. Because you feel like you’ve already failed anyways and you have that frantic feeling of needing to get it in now because you won’t be able to have it later.

What if you give yourself permission to sometimes choose certain foods, and make the decision that it’s not bad? Letting go of the idea of the “good food/bad food” way of thinking creates freedom to make food choices, without worrying that you are going to go off the rails.

You do not need perfection to lose weight. You need consistency to lose weight.

So, what do you do? You need to start to change the way that you talk to yourself when it comes to food. It matters how you talk to yourself.

It won’t be easy to change this.

Work on changing the way you are thinking about what food you are choosing to eat. What are the foods that you choose to eat? What are the foods you choose not to eat, or to limit? And, most importantly, WHY?

And, when you do decide to eat the foods from your so-called “bad” list, it’s okay. When you make that choice with permission it is easier to return to your normal and you have a reason as to why things are better over there.

For the next week or so, pay attention to where the “good food/bad food” trap is coming up in your life, and ask yourself how you can reframe it to genuinely be making choices that help you achieve your long-term goals.

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about how you can let go of the “good food/bad food” way of thinking.