“guilt free dessert”
The other day when I was scrolling through facebook I saw one of those recipe videos that are so popular pop up. The headline was something like “guilt-free brownies” I scrolled right on past. I scrolled a little faster actually. Then I chuckled because I realized that I always scroll past those a little faster.
It’s not because they are not great tasty and useful recipes, it’s that the very first thing, I kid you not, that goes through my head is “I eat whatever I want guilt free.”
While I love and prefer a good refined-sugar-free treat. If I decide to eat a brownie; one made traditionally or in a “clean” way. I enjoy the crap out if it and feel no guilt.
I think all of us women should be able to enjoy our food this way. I think we health conscious fat-loss focused women spend far too much time feeling bad about what we’ve eaten.
I so often hear “oh, I was so BAD I ate X.”
What I think however is that the “I’m so bad” mindset is way unhealthier than the food.
Think about it:
1. Who wants to live in a constant state of guilt?
2. We often become focused on the things we can’t have. So now we have this food we really enjoy but it’s “bad” and you “shouldn’t” be eating it. What becomes the food you think about and crave the most?
3. Why should eating something that brings us pleasure be bad?
I am a firm believer in this: Food and Guilt do not belong together.
Guilt over the food you eat does not promote you to do better. In fact, it often keeps the cycle going it makes food an obsession.
You feel guilty so you go hard core for a few days to make up for it, then you binge, then you feel guilty so you go hard core…..aye yi yi, no thank you. That is the true definition of insanity right there.
A few years ago I wrote about this exact same thing. In fact you can probably search my blog and find it. In the original post I had 5 questions you should ask yourself before you eat an indulgence type food.
I’ve grown a lot since then and I have distilled it down to one single question:
Do I really want this?
Simple as that.
Does that mean you shouldn’t be mindful of your nutrition?
Of course not. In fact, once we start this Fierce For Photos challenge all of us at GSH are going to be very mindful of what we eat because we have BIG goals (that challenge sold out in record time BTW).
Letting go of guilt however means that you get to let go of the constant playback and lamenting of what you may have done “wrong” and you get to focus on making the very next choice in the very next minute align more fully with your goals.
It also means that sometimes having that big bowl of ice cream or slice of pizza IS right in line with you goal of enjoying yourself in that moment so you consciously decide to have it and your life does not implode. You don’t stare at yourself in the mirror and wonder if your belly is bigger already. You just get to enjoy it and move on.
When you bring all of your energy and focus onto the positive that is when you can begin to make a new change with every minute and every meal. I really believe that and want that for you.
Have a great Monday.