Do You Frequently Experience "Food Guilt?"

From time to time many of us express feelings of "guilt or remorse" after eating some of our favorite so called "bad" foods. How many times have you heard yourself or others utter the following:

• Gosh! I am so weak! I can't believe I ate that!
• I couldn't help it; it seemed to be calling my name!
• It's my favorite; I simply could not resist!

I could go on and on but I think most of you get my point. For me, this was a daily routine. I wasn't even conscious of what I was eating at times because I didn't want to take responsibility for anything I chose to eat or not eat for that matter. Still, on a daily basis I personally felt a tremendous burden of having so little control and repeating the same patterns over and over. Just like the grabby octopus!

There were so many times I felt like I was Bill Murray in the movie "Ground Hog Day". You know, where you get up with the best of intentions but no matter what you do, your entire day is pretty much the same as it was the day before.

I now realize that "Food Guilt" is not a good thing. If I decide to eat something "off track" or not a part of my daily or weekly pattern, it is a conscious "choice" I make. Therefore, I am taking responsibility for it because I want it and feel like I can work it into my healthy eating pattern without going overboard.

I don't like guilt. I think it is destructive and many times "guilt" keeps you in an inferior position when it comes to food choices. Many times we hear people say, "Losing weight or maintaining weight is such a struggle or tug of war."

I finally realized food is food. Food is not human; it is not a person calling your name. It doesn't have magnetic forces that force us to eat any particular item good or bad. We make choices and we take responsibility for the choices we make pertaining to food.

There is no room for guilt. The main goal we should have is to eat well 95% of the time and stay "on track" for the most part. When we do choose to eat something that may not be the most healthful choice, let's make it a "choice" and take responsibility for making that choice because we want to.

This way we are breaking any unhealthy cycle of guilt or remorse in our food choices!

Have a great day!