Chocolate is not wrong and Spinach is not holy

Have you ever felt the MEGA guilt from eating chocolate?  Maybe a better question to ask is who hasn’t felt that? Everyone I have ever met or talked to has tried a diet, or is on one now.  Are you one of them?  Are you trying some new “diet” now?    Has that diet worked?  Is it working?  Are you emotionally in a good place on that diet, or are you constantly stressed about what to eat or not eat? Are you degrading yourself because you went off your food list and cheated?  Are you praising yourself because you stuck to your plan?  Just thinking about the emotions that go with all of this makes me tired.  I have been there, done all of that, and I wouldn’t say I was any better off.  Diets and cycles only mad me worse. That led me to think even further.  I have a question for us all that has really been bothering me!! “Why have we made Spinach eaters into some “holy people” and chocolate eaters as, well…”not so holy”? What is that?  It is wrong!!  Maybe we haven’t as much labeled others, but we have ALL labeled ourselves!! Saying things like, “I’ve been good today” (because we ate healthy foods), or the opposite, we say “I was so bad last night” (because we maybe had too much pizza or cookies). STOP for a minute and really listen to what you are saying.  You are a either a good person or a bad person because of the healthy (or not so healthy) choices you made with your food??  Does that make sense?  No, it doesn’t make sense.  What we eat doesn’t make us “good” or bad”.  It is about WHY we are eating! If we are eating chocolate or other foods to stuff down emotions, THAT is where we need to be concerned. Or, on the flip side – if we are eating spinach or other healthy options to “appear” healthy in front of others, THAT is also were we need to be concerned. Neither of the above are healthy or good!   We have all done it.  We have all eaten certain foods in the comfort of our own homes that we would never eat in front of other people.  ESPECIALLY in front of people that are also trying to be healthy.  Yes? We have all also claimed to eat certain healthy foods in front of people we think are healthy.  Or simply gagged down a healthy food because se “should”.  Yes? Let’s think about something.  Food is not the issue with our weight.  Emotions are the issue with our weight.  I would say that most of us that struggle with our weight know what to eat, what is healthy and not healthy, and have been educated.  The problem is not the food.  The problem is how we see the food and USE the food. Are we using the food to fill a need?  Are we using the food to numb ourselves?  Are we using the food to appear one way or another?  Maybe if we start to take note of our heart condition and really think about why we are eating or not eating foods, we will find much more freedom.   Maybe if we will deal with what we are feeling instead of using food to fix our issues, we will be able to detach from that emotional connection we all can easily get with food. Amidst my own struggles, I had to find a new way.   I had tried every diet plan out there.  None of it worked.  Finally when I started to look at my emotions as they tied in with food, my eyes were opened as to why I ate when I was lonely, bored, stressed, tired, you name it!  I found freedom when I put those two together! I don’t claim to have it all figured out. In fact, I struggle often.  However, I do know the freedom that can come when we let go of all of these food rules, expectations, and pressures.  The freedom that brought to me developing the Listen and Lose System.  The freedom that allows me to eat a piece of chocolate and not have the complete guilt meltdown.  The freedom that says I can eat normally, and not in conjunction with my emotions.   I am not indicating we should eat chocolate all day (may be kind of fun to do one day).  Ha!! But, what I am indicating is that we need to stop dictating if we are a “good or bad” person based on what goes in our mouths.   We are not “holy” for eating healthy and we are not “bad” for eating chocolate.  Instead, let’s look at our hearts and WHO we are.    Let’s take time to discover our true emotions.  Let’s take time to work on our hearts, even more than our diets. When our hearts and our emotions are healthy, our body will follow.   Chocolate is not wrong, and Spinach is not holy! –Rachel Curtis Founder, P31 Fitness]]>