Do you think about food as "good" or "bad"? Do you categorize them into "unhealthy" or "healthy"?
What if, instead, we look at our food choices as healthier on a progression of going from eat less, eat some, eat more? This is a practice that has been highly successful as a Precision Nutrition Coach. Here's why.
When we think about food choices as dichotomous - either/or - it creates this mindset of either we can or we can't...and often we then end up feeling that we can't and we feel even more frustrated and "give up".
Have you ever said to yourself "I can't have ONE Oreo cookie because if I do, I'll have the whole pack"? You find yourself thinking you will just have one cookie and you somehow end up staring at an empty pack a few minutes later?
When we avoid ALL the food that we think of as "unhealthy" or "bad" we also categorize ourselves as successful or not successful, right? Not a great way to feel about ourselves, is it?
Let's look at a different, non food related, example. You are talking to your 5 year old daughter as she is crying over her failed attempt to bike. You keep assuring her that she's not bad at biking she's just learning how to bike and soon enough she'll be able to bike - she just need to practice more. Here we are not categorizing her ability to do something as bad or good, but rather as she is progressing from red to yellow to green! She just needs to practice.
Same applies to how we see and judge ourselves with our eating habits. We need to practice and make better choices and we will eventually be more able to enjoy food across the whole spectrum. We just need to realize that some food is healthier than other food and we are empowered to make that choice. It's all about progression not perfection!
Below is a link to a great resource, where you get to select YOUR food choices on the spectrum of "eat less", "eat some", and "eat more". It created to simplify your food choices so that you can make HEALTHIER choices CONSISTENTLY.
Second, once you've realized the spectrum of your food choices using the guide above, it's time to create an environment that support your wanted food choices - out-of-sight out-of-mind - right?
Go through your kitchen and "hide" all the food choices that you want to limit and "market" all the food choices that you want to eat more of (e.g., have a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, have all the fresh veggies visible in the fridge).
You are off to a great start to living healthier. Now, you just need to practice eating according to the food spectrum and continue to create an environment that supports your health & fitness goals!
I'm here to support you whenever you need!
Stay Strong Always,
Maria