Do you often feel guilty after having food or struggle to enjoy food? Then check out these effective tips to deal with food guilt.
Ditch perfection
There is no such thing as the perfect diet. They are simply key nutrition principles that, if put into practice, can promote health over time. And there are hundreds of different ways that they can be put into practice.
Take the pressure off yourself by trying to stick to a day of food that’s unrealistic for you. Instead, find small ways that you can include healthy foods into your diet and do it consistently.
Sit down to enjoy your food
We often eat standing up or on the run and don’t concentrate on what we are doing. This means that sometimes you might not even register what you’ve eaten, making it easy to eat a whole bag of chips without realising it. So, take the time to enjoy your food by sitting at the table without distractions.
Unfollow or mute accounts on social media that can be triggering.
Where attention goes, energy flows. If you are constantly bombarded with messaging and images that make you feel less than, like you’re not doing the “right things”, or that make you feel your body should look and be a different way - unfollow.
Focus your attention on what makes you feel good! And more of that will come.
Talk to a professional
While changing your self-talk can work, in some cases, sometimes the voices of guilt and shame are too loud to quiet on your own.
Professional help is critical if you’re having intrusive thoughts about food that interfere with your daily activities, using vomiting, laxatives, or other methods to lose weight. But seeking help can be helpful.
Talking to a therapist or a registered dietitian can help you unpack the distress these food feelings cause you, even before they lead to symptoms that would qualify for a clinical diagnosis.