It's disconcerting that so many people mentally classify
food as good or bad. "Good carbs" and "bad carbs," "good
fat" versus "bad fat." Why does this irk me? Apparently,
when you eat a "good carb," that makes you a good person,
and when you eat a "bad carb," you become bad.
Why is the individual who eats whole wheat bread better
than the one who eats white bread? As a nutritionist, I am
certainly not a fan of hydrogenated peanut butter on white
bread, but I know plenty of intelligent, healthy people who
hate natural peanut butter and love mushy white bread. And
you know what? They are perfectly capable of making other
healthy food choices, as well as good decisions in the
other parts of their lives.
These "good" and "bad" judgments on food choices are a
total waste of energy. When you eat the yummy chocolate
cake at your birthday party and suddenly feel like a bad
person for doing so, you feel guilty. You doubt your food
choices and these misguided judgments spill over into the
rest of your life. After all, if you can't trust yourself
to make good food choices, can you trust yourself at all?
Let's put an end to this crazy mentality! What about
thinking of food choices as simply "healthier" or "not as
healthy"? "Essential" or "nonessential"? It is a fact
that it's healthier to choose whole wheat bread over white
bread, since there are more nutrients in the whole grains
than in the refined flours. But the truth is that this has
nothing to do with the type of person you are, your
"goodness" factor or, (if there is such a word), "badness."
I believe that if we allow ourselves to relax, we will
ultimately create a balance and most of our choices will be
ones that fall into the healthy column. And, more
importantly, we will also learn to trust ourselves in
making good decisions in the other areas of our lives.
Becoming "at peace with food" is a journey that involves
developing a new relationship with food. Instead of being
marked by frustration and disappointment, by fear and
competition between you and the food you eat, food will
take its place as one of the many activities in your life,
along with family, friends, working and being active. And,
like these other activities, it should be pleasurable.
In order to be at peace with food, you need to learn about
yourself and why you have the relationship you do with the
food you eat. Like all relationships, your relationship
with food took time to develop, and it will take time to
change.
And that's the truth!
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For free tips to becoming At Peace With Food™, articles,
and links to nutritional resource websites, visit
http://www.AtPeaceWithFood.com/freetips.html
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