I’ve been naughty. I feel guilty. I made a bad choice. Do these toxic sayings trip off your tongue after eating something that feels unhealthy or bad? For many of us, having grown up in a world of diet-obsessed media and peers, this can be a hard habit to break.
Yes, it’s great to be healthy and make nutritious choices most of the time. But eating is about fueling our bodies – and we shouldn’t make it into a moral issue.
Some people like to eat low carb. Others prefer to practice intermittent fasting. Some count every macro and calorie, whereas others just eat what they please. Whatever your approach, it’s good to have a balanced diet with a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a dessert, bar of chocolate or fast-food meal.
Changing our food language
Of course, some people are lucky enough to have a straightforward relationship with food. But for others, it’s a bit more complicated. It can help to be a bit more mindful about the language we use about food – and ourselves.
Next time you tuck into an ice-cream sundae or a deep-pan pizza, try simply enjoying it. It’s not a guilty pleasure or a forbidden, dirty secret. Yes, if you eat several donuts every day, you might eventually become unwell. But no matter how many donuts you eat, it still doesn’t make you a bad person.
There’s nothing inherently bad or morally wrong with eating, as long as the food is ethically sourced.
If you’re struggling with your relationship to food, there is help to be had. Your doctor or health professional is a good place to start.