Guilt and self-condemnation about food appear to be endemic. In my practice, I often hear this self-judgement about food choices. I’ve heard ‘I know it’s bad for me’ many times. But this guilt about food is misplaced, in my view. Rather than feeling guilty about our food choices, we may choose to focus on the gratitude we have towards the food we are consuming and how it is nourishing us. As we become more food-aware, we all know that a diet rich in wholegrains, legumes and vegetables is the healthiest choice – these are foods that we love and will love us back! But eating other foods like cakes and pastries, chocolate, pasta and breads occasionally is fine too. The guilt surrounding eating these foods can be worse than the effects of eating the foods themselves. We all need to celebrate and these foods, as well as alcohol, are part of our cultural expression of enjoyment. So enjoy in moderation and throw out the guilt. The important thing is to have a good enough relationship with food that you know when to stop and return to our usual foods. Unfortunately, chocolate, refined sugars and other celebratory food are not one of the essential food groups and these foods don’t love us back. But as we listen to our bodies and feel how these foods affect us, we’ll want/crave less of them anyway.
Our relationship with food can be as neurotic or stress-free as we want to make it.