A random thought on rigid dieting

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.