The Guilt Trap: Eating “Badly”

bingeeatingThe Guilt Trap begins with the statement, “I fell off track with my plan to eat well and I feel so guilty about it.”

Feeling guilty is not at all productive in this scenario. You might think feeling guilty will help you not do it again or help you get back on track, but I believe it’s the primary reason people stay derailed. It becomes a negative cycle you can’t get out of. You CAN fix it, though, if you’re willing to work on your mind.

Instead of entertaining negative thoughts about what you just ate, allow yourself to be human and say, “well, that happened” and move on. It’s not easy and it won’t get easy overnight. It takes time to retrain your brain, especially because most of us have conditioned ourselves to feel guilty about food for most of our lives. Have patience, and allow yourself time and practice to reverse that.

Later, when the moment has passed, ask yourself WITHOUT JUDGEMENT “why did I eat that / why did I eat that much?” Being able to pinpoint where you were at emotionally or physically at that moment can help you acknowledge it when it happens again. Here are a few examples:

• Maybe you haven’t been eating much during the day and then binging at night. That means you need to start eating more during the active portions of your day.
• Maybe work/life has been stressful and you’re using food in an attempt to feel better. If it happens a couple times a week, so what? This too shall pass. If it’s every day, check in with yourself when it’s happening, and find something else to do/eat.
• Maybe you’re out with friends, feeling happy, and eating everything in sight because it’s there. Again, if this is an occasional occurrence, let it be. If it lasts an entire weekend every weekend, ask yourself where you can make some modifications. Maybe breakfast and lunch are healthful meals, then you incorporate something you’re craving for dinner.

I believe that if we spent less time feeling guilty and judging ourselves, we would get out of our own way, and it would be a whole lot easier to accomplish our goals. I have one more scenario for you to consider: What would you say to your overweight child that just ate a few too many cookies? How long would you make your child think about the cookies he/she just ate?

I think you know where I’m going with this… so I will leave you with that 🙂

Ashley Brodeur, MS, CPT
Owner, Active Lifestyle Fitness, LLC