Got Guilt?
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline
The day was beyond stressful — back-to-back meetings and putting out one fire after another. No time to breathe, lunch didn’t happen and then on the way home, before she even realized what was happening, she was crinkling the wrappers from candy bars and an entire bag of chips. Immediately her mind went to, “Why did I do that? That wasn’t on my plan. I’m supposed to be eating vegetables and fruit and healthy things. Ugh. I suck. What’s wrong with me?”
This is food guilt. And you know what? We don’t need it. But easier said than done.
Through my own weight loss saga and now nearly 15 years of working with clients as a health coach, I’ve determined we feel guilt when we make food choices that don’t align with our health goals. All choices in life are made out of intention or by default. For our food decisions, when we plan our meals based on our health goals there’s an intention behind them. When we quickly grab whatever is easiest to eat at the time without thinking about it, it’s our old default. When we intentionally decide to indulge in our favorite sweet treat, there’s no need for guilt sprinkled on top. When we eat the whole bag of M&M’s before we realize what’s happening (default in charge!) and we look back asking why, we unknowingly sprinkle guilt on our food. This guilt can, for some, snowball into shame.
Guilt is based on our actions; shame is based on who we are. If we judge our food choices too much, we can start to judge ourselves instead of the choices we make. None of this belongs in our food. Full stop. So let’s talk about how we can identify times we might feel guilty before they happen!
If guilt shows up with your food, take it as a sign to spend a minute making your food choices. Before you eat something, pause for a second, ask yourself: how am I going to feel after eating this? Why am I choosing this to eat? Is this really what I want? Am I OK with the outcomes that might be associated with this choice? As long as you are OK with all the answers to these questions there is no need to feel guilty. I know, easier said than done, right? Keep reading for more guilt solutions so we can eat with more confidence!
If you’re looking to relieve some food guilt, try writing down what you ate and your feelings after that food choice. This can help you find the underlying issue that is bringing you to this food. Writing down the situations that bring you guilt also takes away judgment because we are looking at the data of when we have felt guilt, not the emotions that have been attached to the food. Looking at the data we collect will help us find and focus on why we are eating these foods, find the common elements of the foods or situations and now we know when we need additional tools. This way we aren’t stuck trying to find the willpower to avoid the chocolate staring us down! As always, I recommend talking to a friend or coach about what is causing your food guilt; often others can help us see situations more clearly. Then you can make a plan to eat those foods and avoid falling into the spiral of guilt and shame.
This is all, indeed, a practice. Remember, guilt shows up when our food choices don’t align with our goals. There are two ways we choose to eat: with intention or by default. Eating by default typically leads to guilt, and possibly shame. When we create a plan for eating the foods that have been linked to our guilt, the need for guilt disappears. So, let’s go out there and get intentional with our food! You got this!
