Food Guilt

itsallgood11

I go through these cycles of restricting intake of bad foods and eating really well, but then I have these intense moments of hunger and cravings for particular foods. It’s left me in a cycle of food guilt. Any thoughts on breaking the cycle?

estherdragonbat

Get out of the "good food"/"bad food" mindset. There's no such thing.

There are staple foods, occasional foods, and special occasion foods. A treat is not a cheat; it's a choice.

I find that when I decide that I want a chocolate bar, I log a chocolate bar, and I see that it's 260 calories (or whatever it is) not a "bad food" or a "food that will undo all my progress to date" just 260 calories that I've made room for today... well, I just have the chocolate bar, minus the sides of guilt and self-loathing that used to come with it.

nutmegoreo

estherdragonbat wrote: »

Get out of the "good food"/"bad food" mindset. There's no such thing.

There are staple foods, occasional foods, and special occasion foods. A treat is not a cheat; it's a choice.

I find that when I decide that I want a chocolate bar, I log a chocolate bar, and I see that it's 260 calories (or whatever it is) not a "bad food" or a "food that will undo all my progress to date" just 260 calories that I've made room for today... well, I just have the chocolate bar, minus the sides of guilt and self-loathing that used to come with it.

This was the single best thing I did for my own mental health around diet.

MaintainInTheMembrane

Eat it, track it, enjoy it is my motto.

missysippy930

Food is a necessity for life. No bad food.
Moderation, correct portion sizes, self control, and staying in a calorie deficit.
Enjoy and log, and don’t let guilt rule your food choices.

Ravenspurn

Eat, Drink, and be merry, there is no point in following a regime that makes you unhappy...
Food is comprised of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates.

Fats are either Saturated, Mono, or PolyUsaturated, you need a certain amount of these each day.
Fats in General contain 9 kcal per gram.

Proteins in general contain 4 kcal per gram.
Proteins are complex and to explain would be a TLDR situation, but it's generally seen that proteins cannot be stored in the fat cells as directly as Carbs and Fat can.

Carbohydrates are either Simple (Glucose, Fructose, and Galactose), or Complex, which includes Dietary fiber. Non digestable Carbs.
Carbs on general contain 4 kcal per gram.

Alcohol contains 7 kcal per gram.

Apart from Alcohol, you need a combination of the other three.
Does not matter if your fats are saturated, or your Carbs are Simple, they all contain the same amount of kcal.
Cetainly, there are certain vitamins and minerals that arre included with certain fats, such as cold pressed virgin fruit oils contain Omega 3, 6, and 9.

NovusDies

estherdragonbat wrote: »

Get out of the "good food"/"bad food" mindset. There's no such thing.

There are staple foods, occasional foods, and special occasion foods. A treat is not a cheat; it's a choice.

I find that when I decide that I want a chocolate bar, I log a chocolate bar, and I see that it's 260 calories (or whatever it is) not a "bad food" or a "food that will undo all my progress to date" just 260 calories that I've made room for today... well, I just have the chocolate bar, minus the sides of guilt and self-loathing that used to come with it.

This.

I have drastically improved my health. I did it by losing weight. In order to lose weight I had to find a balance between eating nutrient dense food and treat food. A lot of failure has taught me that if I get rid of the treat food the harshness of the diet makes me eventually rebel eat which almost always led to failure.

So if moderated treat food helps me stay on a path of weight loss which has dramatically improved my health I can safely say that potato chips, pizza, doughnuts, fast food, hot dogs, french fries, and all of the other treat food I have eaten in the last 2 years are GOOD FOR ME.

I look at it as eating a healthy number of calories. In that mix of calories I try to eat nutrient dense food around 80 percent of the time and fun food about 20 percent of the time. It is a mindset not something I calculate precisely.

Try not to restrict anything you can moderate.

Lietchi

Another vote here for not thinking about food in terms of bad or good.

I eat foods I like, while staying within my calorie limits. I don't feel guilty when I eat what some people would consider junk food/bad food.

I have had (and still have) learning experiences though:
- certain foods can make it very hard to stay within my calorie limit
- some foods are satisfying to consume, but not very filling at all (hungry again shortly after)
- some foods are more of a habit, I will crave them but while eating them I realise that they're not very satisfying
- weighing and logging foods in a separate bowl prior to eating and putting the package away again after taking out my portion, is very helpful for me to limit how much I snack (instead of just eating from the bag/package)

I used to open a bag/box/... of my favorite snacks and finish it in one sitting. And I did that several times a week, or even daily.
At the moment I have a huge array of salty and sweet snacks in the house, which I am able to dip into - in a restrained fashion - when my calories allow it and I feel like it. Sometimes I even forget that I have opened bags of chips or boxes of cookies in the cupboard.

Moderation is a bit of a learning curve, but it gets better with practice.

janejellyroll

As several others have already said, abandoning the concept of "good" and "bad" foods was the best thing I ever did for myself. It freed up so much mental energy and it's much easier to meet my overall calorie goal.

I focus on meeting my calorie goal and getting sufficient protein and fat.

MaintainInTheMembrane

I thought about this some more, and was wondering if you would benefit from thinking of your foods as needs and wants rather than good and bad?

That’s kind of what I subconsciously do. Most of the food I eat is what I need, but I allow a little in the calorie budget for wants.

It’s like when I get paid: I have to take care of my needs first: bills, food, clothing, provisions for my children, medical, etc. if there’s money leftover, I will use that on treating myself to something I want.

Nobody ever deprives themselves of some ‘wants’ when they’re spending money (assuming there’s money left over to do so). It’s the same with food. If you have taken care of your nutritional needs, there’s no reason you can’t have some fun with the leftover calories, if you have some to spare.

What really can help too, is if you’re ever lucky enough to be able to make your needs into options you enjoy or over time, find yourself wanting.

Sometimes I’m really digging my special salad I make. Sometimes I could use a bit more calcium at the end of the day, and if my calories allow it, I’ll get my calcium from ice cream.

And when you reach goal and move onto maintenance, consider it a promotion or a raise: now you have a bigger budget to play with.

NovusDies

MaintainInTheMembrane wrote: »

I thought about this some more, and was wondering if you would benefit from thinking of your foods as needs and wants rather than good and bad?

That’s kind of what I subconsciously do. Most of the food I eat is what I need, but I allow a little in the calorie budget for wants.

It’s like when I get paid: I have to take care of my needs first: bills, food, clothing, provisions for my children, medical, etc. if there’s money leftover, I will use that on treating myself to something I want.

Nobody ever deprives themselves of some ‘wants’ when they’re spending money (assuming there’s money left over to do so). It’s the same with food. If you have taken care of your nutritional needs, there’s no reason you can’t have some fun with the leftover calories, if you have some to spare.

What really can help too, is if you’re ever lucky enough to be able to make your needs into options you enjoy or over time, find yourself wanting.

Sometimes I’m really digging my special salad I make. Sometimes I could use a bit more calcium at the end of the day, and if my calories allow it, I’ll get my calcium from ice cream.

And when you reach goal and move onto maintenance, consider it a promotion or a raise: now you have a bigger budget to play with.

Actually people do that all the time but the message behind your point is still valid.

MaintainInTheMembrane

NovusDies wrote: »

MaintainInTheMembrane wrote: »

I thought about this some more, and was wondering if you would benefit from thinking of your foods as needs and wants rather than good and bad?

That’s kind of what I subconsciously do. Most of the food I eat is what I need, but I allow a little in the calorie budget for wants.

It’s like when I get paid: I have to take care of my needs first: bills, food, clothing, provisions for my children, medical, etc. if there’s money leftover, I will use that on treating myself to something I want.

Nobody ever deprives themselves of some ‘wants’ when they’re spending money (assuming there’s money left over to do so). It’s the same with food. If you have taken care of your nutritional needs, there’s no reason you can’t have some fun with the leftover calories, if you have some to spare.

What really can help too, is if you’re ever lucky enough to be able to make your needs into options you enjoy or over time, find yourself wanting.

Sometimes I’m really digging my special salad I make. Sometimes I could use a bit more calcium at the end of the day, and if my calories allow it, I’ll get my calcium from ice cream.

And when you reach goal and move onto maintenance, consider it a promotion or a raise: now you have a bigger budget to play with.

Actually people do that all the time but the message behind your point is still valid.

This is true, but then it can lead to a spending ‘binge’ for some people.

JaxxieKat

Food is neutral, unless you have a legitimate medical condition or allergy that requires you to abstain from certain foods. Fear of certain foods or guilt/shame over eating certain foods is one sign of disordered eating, so it's best to nip that mentality in the bud ASAP.

kshama2001

MaintainInTheMembrane wrote: »

NovusDies wrote: »

MaintainInTheMembrane wrote: »

I thought about this some more, and was wondering if you would benefit from thinking of your foods as needs and wants rather than good and bad?

That’s kind of what I subconsciously do. Most of the food I eat is what I need, but I allow a little in the calorie budget for wants.

It’s like when I get paid: I have to take care of my needs first: bills, food, clothing, provisions for my children, medical, etc. if there’s money leftover, I will use that on treating myself to something I want.

Nobody ever deprives themselves of some ‘wants’ when they’re spending money (assuming there’s money left over to do so). It’s the same with food. If you have taken care of your nutritional needs, there’s no reason you can’t have some fun with the leftover calories, if you have some to spare.

What really can help too, is if you’re ever lucky enough to be able to make your needs into options you enjoy or over time, find yourself wanting.

Sometimes I’m really digging my special salad I make. Sometimes I could use a bit more calcium at the end of the day, and if my calories allow it, I’ll get my calcium from ice cream.

And when you reach goal and move onto maintenance, consider it a promotion or a raise: now you have a bigger budget to play with.

Actually people do that all the time but the message behind your point is still valid.

This is true, but then it can lead to a spending ‘binge’ for some people.

I guess I'm "naturally frugal" - wish that would rub off on my eating habits

seltzermint555

While I totally agree that it would be best to get out of the "good" and "bad" mindset re: food...if you MUST do that, maybe take a different approach. Telling yourself that you can have the "bad" but only in smaller proportion to the "good". Similar to how some people try to eat 80/20 (I may have that a little off) by eating primarily very nutritious healthy high-quality food and then having the Snickers bar or Doritos, too. Balancing it all out and not feeling guilty, because the guilt fixes nothing in the long run.

I've sort of used this approach myself in losing and maintaining 100+ weight loss.
For YEARS I would tell myself, "no more bad food/junk food" and I would undereat and deprive myself of all "treats" and wind up giving up. Now I don't do that and I'm much happier and healthier. What I DO though is little swaps throughout each day, making good changes here and there where it doesn't matter to me as much...I still eat donuts for example, at least once a month. But I also have plans in place to cook at home most of the time and only dine out on specific days and occasions. It really does help.