Labelling Foods - Your Language Matters

Labelling foods 'good' or 'bad' as part of our diet makes us feel like we can't/shouldn't eat certain foods. How many times have you been at a friends house and they offer you some cake or biscuits with your cup of coffee. You say "oh no I shouldn't, I'm being good." They retreat with the cake. An hour into your chat, your friend asks again, "are you sure you don't want some?" This time you give in. "Go on then, one piece won't hurt"

This happens all the time, we're human beings and socialising is part of who we are. But somehow, we leave this situation (and many others) feeling guilty, like we've messed up and looking for someone to blame.

Do you blame your friends for having the audacity to shove cake under your nose, do they not know you're on a diet?!

Do you blame yourself for having no willpower or self control?

Do you leave thinking about how you're going to burn off those calories?

The thing is that this mindset of labelling food 'good' and 'bad' only leads to you to feeling restricted. Then when you have something 'bad' you feel guilty, which leads to creating more rules or starting an even stricter diet which leaves you feeling more restricted and the desire to eat those 'off limits' foods is even greater. Eventually you think "oh well I've ruined my diet now might as well eat this chocolate bar, those crisps before dinner and cheesecake for dessert." When the truth is this that if you'd just allowed yourself to eat the piece of cake in the first place by removing the 'cake is bad' label, you accept that you ate the cake and just get on with your day.

Think of it like this, if you get a flat tyre you don't go and slash the other three tyres. Stop with the self-sabotage and factor it in to your diet.

Here's some facts for you...

1. What you eat does not make you 'good' or 'bad'

In that moment, the slice of cake does not make you a bad person, reflect on your character or define your value as a human being. Just like eating a salad doesn't automatically make you a 'good' person.

2. One meal won't make or break your goals

Eating one salad doesn't make you get your dream body just as much as eating one piece of cake won't make you overweight. Don't get me wrong, a plate full of fruits and vegetables may be more nutrient-dense than a plate full of chips but it doesn't mean both can't be part of an overall balanced diet that allows you to achieve your goals.

So what can you do about labelling?

1. Stop labelling foods

It's easier said than done, believe me I know. We've been labelling foods since we were kids and our parents did it too. These things take time to unlearn, so don't worry if you don't get it right away.

First try to gain some awareness; can you notice when you label something as 'bad'? How does it make you feel? Can you make a list of the foods you do this with?

This will help start to shift your mindset away from all-or-nothing and identify patterns or particular trigger foods.

2. Start to develop a criteria for 'better'

Think of food on a sliding scale rather than in groups of good or bad. Start to consider what might be a better choice in any given situation.

For example, in our coffee and cake situation. What might be a better choice? What might be a worse choice? What could be considered pretty good in this context? It could be asking for a smaller slice than you normally would. It could be sharing a piece with another friend.

It will also be different depending on the situation. Think about what choices might be better or worse if you were:

• At a petrol station

• Only have 5 minutes to grab something to eat

• Don't have a fridge at work to store your food

• The dinner party you attend is only serving vegetarian food

and so on...

3. Practice makes perfect

As time goes on and you practice dropping these labels it will get easier. You will start to feel more powerful around food and lessen the power food has over you.

You have control over what you put into your body and not the other way around.

4. Remember you can't mess this up

You can't mess this up.

Let me say that one more time, you can't mess this up.

This is so important. And a lot of people will automatically come up with 100 reasons to prove me wrong but hear me out. The key of any program is consistency. Not perfection, just overall consistency. So if you have a doughnut or a piece of cake, it's not game over, you haven't messed up. Just accept it and move on. The overall consistency is what matters so you can include foods like cake and doughnuts in your diet and still achieve your goals. In fact, I'd actively encourage you to include foods you enjoy.

The very fact that you're trying to make a change is what matters. So unless you completely give up, stop paying attention to anything you consume then you haven't messed up.

Still struggling and want to learn more about how I can help you break free from restriction, send me an email at nourishnutritionuk@gmail.com and I'll happily help you out.