You AREN'T What You Eat

We've all heard it right? "You are what you eat!" I want to explore that train of thought in today's blogpost. This is something I struggled with and often get asked about. What are good foods to eat? What should I not eat? And my answer is always this: everything and nothing to both of those questions.

In most people's eyes there's good food and bad food, but there's also SUPERFOOD and semi-healthy food. So what does a label do to our outlook and also our mental health when we use these types of categories for what we eat? Our associations with food play a larger role than what you may consciously know. Below are some basic associations we often make. 

Good food = Good for me = I'm being good = Reward

Bad food = Bad for me = I'm being bad = Guilt

SUPERFOOD (made up word) = Super powers that make me fly or something = I'm super healthy

Semi-healthy food = not the greatest, but not completely void of nutrients = I'm getting something from it so Mehhh'

With the above food "categories" I'm going to name a food to associate with it that most people would for examples as we go. 

Good food = egg

Bad food = cupcake

SUPERFOOD = kale

Semi-health food = granola bar

Example:

I start my day off with an egg and whole wheat toast. My train of thought would be that I ate a good breakfast, I'm healthy and feeling good! Breakfast was good for me, good and healthy, so therefore I am too! For lunch I get a salad and it has kale in it- awesome! It's a SUPERFOOD, so not only did I have an amazing breakfast, I am eating a salad for lunch with kale so I'm killing it, feeling super cause I just ate a superfood! This makes me extra healthy even though I paid almost $15 for this salad, it's alright cause it's a SUPERFOOD, so it's worth the super-health benefits. But I was still hungry so I grabbed a granola bar for the vending machine, which isn't the greatest because it's a semi-healthy food choice but compared to the other choices it's better. But I had the kale, so it negates that. 

After work, it's my nephews 5th birthday and the party has some amazing cupcakes. Red flags go up, this is bad, I don't need that bad food, I don't want to be bad, but everyone else is eating them and I really love cupcakes. I spend the entire party focusing on if I can swing having a cupcake or not, maybe I'll do an extra 30 mins of cardio tomorrow to "make up for it" or maybe I shouldn't at all because it's bad for me. But man.... I really love those sprinkle. So I "indulge" and scarf down that cupcake after spending all night in turmoil at my nephew's birthday party thinking about this "bad food" instead of enjoying myself and my nephew- the one I should be celebrating. On the way home, I keep kicking myself, I didn't need that cupcake, why did I eat it? Why did I allow myself to have a cupcake? Tomorrow I will do better and only eat "good food" and I'll eat less to make up the difference. Guilt-guilt- GUILT. 

Does this sound like any of you? 

Again, I want to re-emphasize that SUPERFOOD is a made up coined term and there is not actual definition other than companies using it to sell and promote a product or item. These foods can be nutrient dense, but don't get fooled by the flash of this made up term. Don't fork out the extra money to get your hands on a certain food deemed "super". I think all foods are SUPER, even fried chicken or potato chips. If you like a food, it's super and that's all there should be. 

This is why the food shaming and categorizing needs to stop. The guilt and idea of categorizing food plays such a HUGE role in our views on what we consume. To get healthy, we need to stop. We need to stop the shaming, stop the guilt, and see food for what it really is! FOOD IS FOOD- that's it. I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain my nutrition philosophy to people with this mind set. Believe me, I was there once too. It's how we learn in society. There's guilt associated with what and how we eat and there shouldn't be. 

If you are going to eat something that you think is bad and you truly want it, what makes it bad? It's something you enjoy, so why set yourself up for failure and a negative mindset when it's something you love and WILL eat regardless? 

Removing this kind of talk from our lives is the first step in changing your lifestyle and relationship with food. Stop putting foods into these little boxes and stop comparing your body and your actions to others. You are NOT them & they are NOT you! 

Positive mind set = Positive life! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and if it helps you see food in a different light! Please leave comments below!