Dooley Noted: 1/26/2015
This past week, I had a number of clients discussing the “bad food” they ate.
I heard phrases like the following:
“I was bad this weekend.”
“I ate crap.”
“I was really bad and had bread with dinner.”
I know this talk very well.
The vilification of food started for me in junior high, when I started dieting.
It was sixth grade.
I remember my beautiful, thin classmates with boyfriends on their arms.
I looked different. I was thicker.
I didn’t have a boyfriend.
I thought that being attractive was an equation:
Eat less + workout like mad = become skinnier = get a boyfriend
So, I read everything available on dieting.
And let me tell you one truth: nutrition in the 90s was focused on vilifying food, especially fat.
Fast forward to 8 years later, and I’m a college sophomore with a full-blown eating disorder.
If I had one piece of cake, I was running five miles to “burn it off.”
The more I created food villains, the more they taunted me with their presence.
I saw food everywhere. And every moment was focused around what I was – and wasn’t – eating.
It took a decade of work to understand there was no “bad” food.
There’s just food.
And the more you restrict something you enjoy, the more you will desire it.
So, I stopped vilifying food.
I made conscious choices about food, and I let myself have “forbidden” foods.
I ended up desiring them less.
I understood that the biggest reason I desired them was the taboo of not being able to have them.
It’s like getting anything you desire.
After the cloak of desire has vanished, you’re left with little intrigue.
So, I started finding joy in the simple.
I found out I actually enjoy – and crave – roasted vegetables.
I started enjoying the texture and flavors of different foods, especially those that paid me back with nutrition for my body.
I discovered that meat personally made me stronger.
I learned sugars and cakes made my energy tank, unless I ate them post-workout.
I learned timing and frequency mattered.
I learned what I did consistently had the greatest overall effects on my health.
I hope you can stop making certain foods be villains.
There are no bad foods.
There’s room for everything.
Let go of the punishment.
I’ve kept my weight off without disordered eating and thinking for a 12-year run.
And I hope you can benefit from my most hard-earned lesson:
What you do consistently matters most.
Do good by your body.
Find out what works for you.
This may include not vilifying the occasional piece of bread or cookie.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley