"I can't eat that it's not healthy"
"I ate this (super food) because someone said it's good for me, but it's gross"
"I have to exercise because it's good for me"
I hear these statements pretty often. People that feel the food they eat has to be "healthy" instead of enjoyable. That they can't eat food that brings them joy anymore because it's unhealthy or imperfect.
The fun thing about adult life is that we have freedom of choice. We can choose to eat foods and take actions that serve our body and we can choose ones that serve our mind. Over the course of a day, week or month we're going to look for a balance of these.
A simple rule we can apply is the "80:20 Principal" where you eat quality food 80% of the time and less nutritionally valuable foods 20% of the time. This allows us to feel pretty good near to 100% of the time, as that 20% is going to be more mentally and emotionally stimulating and satisfying. Also saving us from going crazy by "eating clean" 100% of the time.
If we spend our time making choices based on it being healthy, we're often left feeling unsatisfied and frustrated with our goals and choices. Instead hitting the "fuck it" button on a regular basis to integrate those foods we love and bring us joy.
How many time have you gone on a "diet" and decided it wasn't worth the effort for the goal? That actually maybe the thing you were trying to reach was extremely unattainable?
I won't lie, to achieve goals we do need to cut back on or adjust some things. But to make the results sustainable there has to be some give and take.
A useful tool to help plan in the foods you enjoy if you find it challenging can be to track meals in advance. You'd start with the more calorie dense foods (the ones you love and one to keep in some way) and working backward. This ensures you make up the difference in other places and don't detract from achieving your goals, plus get to enjoy what you love!
The thing that often happens instead is that we binge eat that tasty stuff we love after a few weeks of being really on it. Then cut out a meal to compensate, feel crap, beat ourselves up about it and continue on a viscous cycle.
Instead we can structure our food choices around things we enjoy, ensure there is flavourful food included each day and take short breaks (weekend) as and when we feel we mentally need them.
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