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Daily Eats, Food Freedom

Letting Go Of Food Guilt

June 25, 2014 By Robyn 19 Comments

You might know the feeling. The one where you ate a little bit more than you intended to.
And then that feeling of guilt overcomes you and the negative self-talk begins.

Suddenly, instead of soaking up the time with your friends or family, you’re now scheming ways to “burn off” what you just consumed.

It’s food guilt.

You had full intentions of eating until you were full and then stopping. But that dang cupcake with that amazingly sweet and fluffy buttercream was too irresistible and you ate three cupcakes instead of one. Or that crispy wood fire pizza crust was to diiieeee for and now you might need to undo a button on your pants.It happens right?
Of course!

 

WIAW breakfast // post workout green smoothie [1 cup almond milk + 1/2 frozen banana + frozen spinach + 1/2 scoop vanilla Vega One] and blueberry oat pancakes with coconut butter and almond butter]

 

But how do we stop the food guilt and self punishment? How do we break free from beating ourselves up for indulging a little more than we intended?

We stop complicating food.
It’s just food.
It’s not an extra 20 minutes on the elliptical, or skipping breakfast, or five pounds on the scale.

It’s just food.
We give food way to much power and authority over our lives. These negative thoughts can hijack our minds and then suddenly, we’re putting all our energy towards feeding those thoughts and figuring out how to undo “the damage.”

 They’re irrational thoughts, really.
lunch // spinach + bell pepper + tomato + cucumber salad with nutritional yeast, balsamic and avocado + flatbread with hummus + a kiwi + a couple pieces of dark chocolate 

Think about it. Generally speaking, it takes eating an additional 3,500 calories to gain one pound. ONE pound. That means if you were even to think you gained ONE pound by “over eating” you’d have to eat an additional 3,500 calories on TOP of how many calories your body needs to maintain it’s weight. And in my experience, I’ve found that woman drastically underestimate how many calories they need each day to maintain their weight.

And even if you did eat an additional 3,500 calories, which more often than not you didn’t, that’s still only ONE pound.
Irrational right?
afternoon snacks // hummus + veg and banana + the best AB ever

 

We have to stop believing the continuous stream of lies from this irrational part of our minds. Weight maintenance isn’t a stable, perfectly level line. It’s a squiggly line. Some days we might eat a little more than our body needs. And some days we might subconsciously eat a little less. If our hormones are balanced, our bodies are really good at maintaining their healthy set point if we just listen to them.

dinner // sautéed peppers and onions with taco seasoning + black beans and salsa over a sweet potato topped avocado and some sautéed kale on the side…loving this simple [and cheap!] dinner lately!

 

Typically, if you’ve had an “indulgent” [for lack of a better word] day, you probably crave some lighter foods the next day. Kale sounds awesome after a day of pizza, some ice cream and few glasses of wine.

And that’s the beauty and freedom of moderation. We don’t have to beat ourselves up if we ended up a little too full because it doesn’t happen every day. It happens in moderation.

If you restrict yourself from enjoying foods that you love, you set yourself up to binge on those foods down the road. The restriction and test of willpower glorifies that particular food that is “forbidden.” It’s human nature to want the things we can’t have. Every liked the guy that doesn’t respond to your texts and care less about the one who calls you everyday? Yea, same thing.

study snacks // banana muffin with coconut butter + two cookies fresh out of the oven my roommate baked
Kale is the equivalent of cake.
They are on the same level.
And if you’re eating well and really listening to what makes your body feel good, most of the time it’s probably kale. But give yourself permission to enjoy every buttery, sugary, absolutely delicious bite of cake too. Our bodies sometimes crave cake over kale. Normalize cake just like you normalize kale.
It’s just food. That’s it.
So let’s stop giving food more credit and authority than it deserves.
It’s a gift to nourish our bodies, enjoy with others, and celebrate.
Both cake and kale.


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Filed Under: Daily Eats, Food Freedom Tagged With: dinner, healthy balance, wiaw

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A non-diet dietitian and nurse practitioner helping women find peace with food, accept their natural body size and heal from hormonal issues and period problems.

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I have yet to experience postpartum myself, but I've had many clients and readers that have been through that season of life. Or perhaps you are currently living through the postpartum period. Every woman's body is different, therefore every woman's experience after giving birth will be different. What works for one woman, might not work for the next. While one woman might go through postpartum and adjust to newborn life quiet seamlessly, another woman might find it much more difficult. She might need the support of medication, therapy, extra help and many other things. One way is not better than the other - they are simply two different ways of navigating the postpartum period. I hope this post helps you better care for yourself, whatever that means for you. There's no right or wrong way to care for yourself as a mom or your new baby.

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