There's No Such Thing as Good Food or Bad Food

My diet is pretty varied. I've read that variety is the key to satisfaction when it comes to nutrition, but my reason for eating this way is more practical: I get bored. I like the idea of waking up every morning and concocting something new and interesting. I have my favorite meals that I'll eat over and over, but novelty is key: my desire to titillate my taste buds is almost as strong as my need to eat. On any given day, my food intake may be as varied as the following:

Oatmeal with almond butter, raisins and cinnamon
Roast chicken breast and steamed broccoli
Dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel
BBQ potato chips
Quest protein bar(s)
Big A$$ Salad, aka BAS
Carrot sticks and hummus
Hard-boiled eggs

GIVE ME ALL THE CHOCOLATE-COVERED, SEA SALT-
SPRINKLED CARAMELS!

Seems like a treat, but Quest bars are packed with protein, have
only 1g of sugar, and only 4g net carbs!

You may wonder how I find room in my diet for chocolate and BBQ chips, given that I'm a "fitness professional" and endeavor to lead by example for my clients. My reply to that is simply this: when I eat this way, with such flexibility, I am setting an example. I'm setting an example by showing my clients and followers that there is room for a little indulgence every damn day. A daily indulgence may not be an entire ice cream sundae or half a pizza, but it will help you to avoid feeling deprived which is the key to a sustainable nutrition plan.

A successful, long-term nutrition strategy requires that you practice moderation daily, which subsequently allows for greater flexibility. When one embraces such a strategy, all foods become equal with the potential to nourish you in different ways. In other words, no food is inherently "good" or "bad." This type of thinking is a trap. It sends the wrong message to the emotional part of our personality that struggles with self-control and will power. Arbitrarily categorizing foods as "good" or "bad," reinforces that we are either "good" or "bad" based on our food choices. As anyone who has struggled with emotional eating knows, it's that the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. If something is prohibited, it makes it all the more desirous and all the more difficult to resist.

You can have both!

The bottom line is that I want to enjoy what I eat; I'm allergic to deprivation. If I can implement a few nutritional "hacks" here and there that help me stay the course, that's a win-win. It takes constant practice, commitment, and the ability to trust yourself, but it is possible to get to a point where you can have a few chips or a square or two of chocolate without needing to eat the entire package. I've learned, through practice, that real freedom from food obsession doesn't look like eating everything I want, all the time; rather, it looks like choosing the foods that will best nourish me in the moment. After all, there's a difference between the nourishment that one gets from a kale smoothie and the nourishment one gets from a gooey chocolate chip cookie straight out of the oven! Sometimes, feeding your soul (and that little devil on your shoulder) is the best nourishment of all!

One of my all-time favorite treats!

What it all comes down to is trusting yourself and accepting that nothing in terms of food is finite. In other words, any food you could possibly want is more or less at your fingertips at any given time, so you don't have to eat it all right now. That's an incredibly liberating idea which several of my fitness gurus have discussed at length (particularly Jill Coleman of JillFit Physiques). If we can get to a mental space where we accept that anything is available anytime, we ditch the "scarcity mindset:" the idea that makes us think: "I have to eat all of this RIGHT NOW because I don't know when I'll be able to eat it again!" We've all been there: you're out to dinner with friends and the waiter passes out the dessert menu, enticingly. You end up ordering even though you didn't even want dessert, and you eat it all because you think, "Heck, when am I going to be out with x friends again at x restaurant? I have to take advantage of it!"

This thought process is another trap, and it's why I've taken the time to really wrack my brain and come up with 4-5 desserts that I absolutely love. When one of these is on the menu, I'll indulge with zero guilt. Once I identified my favorite treats, it became so much easier to say no to other opportunistic treats: you eat it because it's there. It helped me to turn "I can't have that" into "I choose not to have that right now (or ever)," which was extremely powerful for me.

If you're struggling with your relationship with food, know that there is a way out. It takes patience with yourself and a whole lot of compassion. Be kind to yourself, especially when things don't go according to plan. Progress isn't linear--it's filled with valleys and spikes--so don't get discouraged. Keep reading (Jillfit's blogs on nutrition and mindset are a must), applying, discarding, adopting, reapplying, and you'll get there eventually. Seek support from friends and family and other like-minded people. Go online and find support (Neghar Fonooni's Lean & Lovely group is a great start). Find your tribe :-)

Blessings to you all, and Happy Easter!