Day 17 of 30: Food Moralizing

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #71CCD5;”] I[/dropcap] discovered the concept of food moralizing from my clever friend Darya Rose from Summer Tomato.

Darya is all about using science to lose weight without dieting.

I love her approach.

One of the most important things she’s shown me is the trap of food moralizing.

So lets take a look…

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:

• What is food moralizing?
• Why is food moralizing problematic?
• How to Stop Moralizing Your Food Choices
• What about Low Carb?

What is food moralizing?

Food moralizing is when you label or categorize specific foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

It tends to extend to thinking of yourself as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for eating them.

Why is food moralizing problematic?

Because it makes it harder to make the everyday food choices that will get you results.

When we label food as ‘bad’ we trigger a subconscious belief that they taste better.

And that by ‘giving in’ and eating bad food we are rewarding ourselves.

Food moralizing also sets up the belief that ‘bad’ foods allow us a break from the willpower required to eat ‘good’ food.

To make matters worse, the good / bad labelling makes it harder to enjoy healthier options because of the subconscious connection that they won’t taste as good or be as satisfying as a more indulgent option.

And finally food moralizing encourages you to use external factors (and willpower) to decide what to eat instead of using the intrinsically motivating internal cues of how food makes you feel.

Eating broccoli doesn’t make you a ‘good’ person just as eating a brownie doesn’t make you ‘bad’.

How to Stop Moralizing Your Food Choices

Awareness is the first step.

If you find yourself thinking ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food just catch it and stop.

Or if you start thinking I’ve been so ‘good’, I deserve this bread / pasta / cookie.

Again stop.

Instead ask yourself:

• How will this food make me feel?
• Is it worth it now?
• How much do I need to feel satisfied?

And if you decide that it’s worth it now. Then go for it and enjoy.

Without guilt.

Where does Low Carb fit in with this?

So everything we covered yesterday about why carbs are problematic still holds true.

The less high carb foods you eat, the easier it’s going to be to reach your health goals.

We just want to avoid the trap of thinking of High and Low Carb foods as bad or good.

They’re all just food.

And we’re not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for choosing either one.

Even more important is just because a food is High Carb doesn’t mean it’s going to taste really amazing (think rice cakes).

And just because something is Low Carb doesn’t mean it’s not going to taste good or be really satisfying (hello bacon!).

Instead, lets focus on how different foods make us feel.

This takes away the will power struggle and makes it as easy as possible to make the best choices to help us be healthy AND happy.

SUMMARY

Here’s what we’ve covered today:

• Food moralizing is labelling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
• It makes it harder to make healthy choices because it encourages the use of will power instead of being motivated internally. And it implies that healthy choices aren’t going to be as satisfying.
• To stop moralizing, just be aware and start asking yourself ‘how will this make me feel?’
• It’s important to avoid the trap of thinking of High Carb foods as ‘bad’.

ACTIVITY

1. Decide to stop moralizing.
2. When you catch yourself thinking in terms of ‘good’ or ‘bad’, remember to ask the question… ‘How will this make me feel?’ and decide accordingly.

See you tomorrow!

With love,
Jules x

ps. If you have any questions or comments from today’s lesson head over to the Ask Jules page or leave a comment below.