A random thought on rigid dieting
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Scarcity of enjoyable foods will pretty much always make them more desirable. Which is why I find the more liberal people are with their food choices, the more consistent they tend to be. What's more is the fact that it's consistency without effort. Rather than walking around anxious about food rules, fretting over "bad" foods, and feeling guilty at the smallest indiscretions... they're simply eating when they're hungry and stopping when they're full.
It's the folks who box themselves in with rigidity who lose control of their appetites and lose their sense of physiological vs. psychological hunger. They're always craving and therefore they're always caving. Each cave is followed by a hefty dose of guilt. Once they've beaten themselves up enough, it's back to a punishing regiment of dichotomous food labeling and inflexible dieting.
I don't know about you, but this doesn't sound like a healthy and productive relationship with food. It's time to think in terms of what really matters - total daily calories and relatively loose macronutrient goals. You can have your cake and your health if you're sensible about it. Better yet, when you include things you love, you're also maintaining your sanity.
Want to know an even better side effect?
You're giving yourself permission to eat food. Permission nixes the sense of deprivation and the need for rebellion with binges.
There's a smarter way. You simply need to believe it and loosen the choke hold you have on your perceptions about "good" and "bad" food.
This resonates as true with me, to an extent. While there are foods that I don't eat, I don't really name them 'bad,' and the foods that I do eat are so wide and varied (and scrumptious) that I don't 'crave' or 'cave' to what, to me, are non-food items. I will occasionally choose to eat something like a round of cheesey bread sticks, but I don't binge, I don't feel guilty, and the resultant sluggish feeling the day after is enough of a reminder that I'll be a happier camper going for something like eggplant covered in olive oil next time.
Like you said, it really is a matter of perspective, paying attention to your body, and having a healthy relationship with putting energy and nutrients in, and enjoying it in the process!0 -
I needed to read this today as I have not been eating like I prefer to lately due to some financial constraints and that old guilt factor was starting to creep back in. But then I realized I have been pretty close on my macros except for sodium, which typically is not a problem for me as far as water weight or blood pressure.
I do have foods I choose not to eat because they just don't taste good anymore to me or now they make me feel sick.
Thank you for this post!0 -
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