Everytime I’m at a social event, someone inevitably finds out I’ve been in fitness for over a decade and gives me the
“Oooooohhh I probably shouldn’t be eating these snacks and having this beer around you… after all this stuff is bad for you!”
Sometimes they’re joking, but joking in the “let me give this a couple sarcastic laughs while I say it because I’m not sure how you’re going to react but I am concerned you’re going to judge me for saying this and I do want you to validate I’m making okay choices” sense.
So not really joking at all, just uncomfortable for all of us.
And trust me, I am not judging you for what you eat, dear stranger.
Half the reason I exercise is so I can eat junk food with minimal consequence, and what other people consume does not affect my happiness one way or the other.
The big takeaway for me for interactions like this, and interactions with almost everyone that involve nutrition is the idea that “good” and “bad” foods exist and are acceptable categories for what we eat.
You see, I don’t believe there are “good” and “bad” foods.
For real.
Yes, I don’t think humans should consume exclusively Timbits or Cake, but I don’t believe either of those things are “bad” for you, and I urge you to consider adopting a similar mindset.
The only questions I consider are:
- Does this fit your value structure?
- Does it serve your goals?
- Is it working for you?
Everything you eat won’t always check all 3 boxes and that’s okay. Here’s a few ideas to help ease your journey.
THE SITUATION DETERMINES THE CHOICES.
For instance, chicken and salad with a light homemade vinaigrette may objectively serve your goals better than cake.
But sometimes it’s been a hell of a freakin’ week and you just can’t handle one more stressor in your day and if you don’t get something easy and delicious in your body soon you’re going to lose it because cake is the only thing you’ve been looking forward to for the last 72 hours.
So cake for dinner might actually serve the big picture better, allowing you to make more aligned choices down the road.
The same way other times, regardless of how much of a stress-inducing-shit-show your week has been, it’s worth it to grill up some chicken for that salad because you’re on a roll with your goals and you don’t want to lose momentum.
Cake is neither good nor bad, it’s simply food, and all you need to ask yourself is “does this fit my values, serve my goals, and is the way I eat working for me?”.
In the situations above, both approaches are totally different, and totally perfect.
SECOND, FOOD HAS NO MORALITY, SO LABELING
THINGS GOOD AND BAD IS ONLY A STEP AWAY FROM
CALLING THEM RIGHTEOUS AND EVIL.
And if you’ve ever had a conversation with someone who is die hard about nutrition they often feel that strongly, and you know how annoying it is.
“You’re eating THAT for lunch??… wow I would NEVER put something like that in my body…”
Ugh. Thanks for the input, judgy-pants. Sorry I’m not 100% perfect 100% of the time like you.
Often when you’re in the mindset of “oh, this is bad for me”, you just use it as a way to rationalize “well, I deserve it” or “I’m a bad person for eating this”.
You’re making yourself right or wrong through your food choices (and in my experience if you struggle with fitness you are usually finding more ways to make yourself wrong and beat yourself up).
What you ate today, regardless of how “good” or “bad” you feel it was, is not a reflection of your worth as a human being.
Not. At. ALL.
It’s just giving you another opportunity to judge yourself, and in my experience it’s simply not productive. you’re never going to be perfect and embracing the imperfections is kind of the point.
You don’t want judgy-pants giving you a piece of their mind on what you brought for lunch everyday, so what makes it okay to say the same (or even more negative things) to yourself?
LASTLY, A BIT OF JUNK FOOD JUST DOESN’T MAKE A
DIFFERENCE.
I know, I know, I’m in fitness and I should be an advocate for health and everyone should grow their own vegetables and harvest their own meat and only ever make choices that are perfect all the time.
Aside from that being incredibly unrealistic for a 21st century lifestyle, our bodies are also incredibly resilient.
Our brains can form new neurological pathways after a head injury.
We can process toxins and poisons from our bloodstream to prevent ailment.
After breaking a bone, the bone grows back stronger.
Your body is INCREDIBLE.
If you treat it like crap forever, you will have issues.
But by following the 80/20 rule you’ll be fine.
If you make 80% of your choices fit your value structure and serve your goals, it’s incredibly unlikely the other 20% will affect results.
Workout a few times a week, walk and be active everyday, get a consistent good night’s sleep, adopt healthy stress management practices, and eat mostly protein, veggies, and unrefined carbohydrates.
You’ll be able to reach your goals, and also have cake for dinner here and there.
You’re not going to be perfect, so just ask yourself:
- Does this fit your value structure?
- Does it serve your goals?
- Is it working for you?
If 80% of the time you’re checking those boxes, you’re doing great and the results you want are just around the corner.
In the meantime, stop giving yourself such a hard time and enjoy the journey.
