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You are on a deserted island and you can only choose one food to keep you alive. Which food do you choose?
A cheeseburger...
...or a salad?
Well, people would usually say salad is an obvious “good” choice.
But in the context of needing to stay alive, you would obviously want to choose the cheeseburger.
What we perceive as the "unhealthy choice” is actually what would keep us alive the longest. The veggies, the more obvious “healthy choice” doesn’t have any protein, fat, or really anything sustainable to keep you alive.
You could not eat enough salad to sustain life!
The burger, something we might identify as “unhealthy” or “bad” however, would have enough calories, fat, and carbohydrates, that we would actually be kept alive longer.
So in the context of this example, the burger becomes the healthier, or “good” choice.
Can you see now that rather than labeling foods as good or bad, we actually need context in order to understand and decide whether a food is best suited to us and our needs?
When we throw in context, and all the different variables that are applicable to YOU, who YOU are, and what YOUR lifestyle looks like, this really helps to decide whether a food, an object like cheeseburger or a salad is the right choice for you.
Because when we have something we perceive as bad, we feel like we’ve wrecked it for the day or week, and then go out and binge or make decisions we aren’t happy with because we feel we’ve blown it! (you haven't, by the way)
Cheesecake is not bad - it’s just a slice of cheesecake. Maybe it’s not the ultimate picture of health, but it’s not the end of the world. We don’t need to stress or give up for the day until we "get back on track" tomorrow.
Labelling foods as good or bad and restrictive diets that leave us feeling hungry and utterly dissatisfied only feed into unsustainable patterns. THIS is what leads to "yo-yo dieting" (better off calling it no-no dieting).
My mission is to help women cultivate a healthy relationship with ALL foods. No more guilt, no more shame. Only freedom with food and making choices that leave you feeling empowered & satisfied.
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