First, go to this link.
Here are a few things I have noticed or experienced recently. Try to figure out what they have in common.
- I went to a restaurant and looked at the menu. I noticed that there is a "guilt-free" section of the menu that has lower-calorie options. All the menu items listed had little halos over them.
- I was in the gym locker room and overheard two ladies talking about dieting. One said she had given up cookies and hadn't eaten them in a few days. The other praised her for being a "good girl."
- I googled "diets" and found the top ad to be "Foods you must not eat."
- A website with "Diet-Friendly Baking Tips: Sneaky baking tricks that will have you seeing desserts in a whole new 'light.'"
- A magazine article that implies you're a "pig" for eating after your workout.
All these things give food a moralistic feature.
When you clicked on the link above, what did you feel? Did you feel hungry? Guilty for wanting cheesecake? Out of control for drooling over the decadent desserts? Or was it no big deal? It's just cheesecake. I can have it whenever I want. And when I eat it, I enjoy it. And usually it's so rich and enjoyable that I can only eat a few bites before I'm satisfied.
We live in a toxic food environment.
Everywhere we go, there are messages telling us we should be dieting. We should be thin. We should eat healthy.
Morals are tied to food--if you eat healthily you're a good person. If you eat "bad" you must be a bad person. Think about what you've heard or seen lately that has tied morals to food or eating.
Strange, isn't it, that an aspect of our life we are supposed to enjoy has become so guilt-ridden that we can barely eat a slice of cheesecake without either receiving judging glares, or just judging ourselves for our transgression, as if we are not worthy of enjoying food.
So, in honor of National Cheesecake Day, I challenge you to participate in a detox. Detoxify guilt from your eating. Instead of feeling guilty, enjoy every bite of your delicious food. Chances are, some of the following will happen as a result:
- You won't even need to eat the entire thing.
- You won't feel anxious around certain "forbidden" foods, or out of control for eating them.
- You'll be able to discover your true food preferences.
- You'll be more in tune with what your body wants and needs.
Try it! You may like it! :)
