I overheard a girl say, “I don’t eat bread or butter” and I thought, “Perfect, more for me”. But this wasn’t always my mentality. I definitely use to think in a similar way and restrict certain foods.⠀⠀⠀⠀
This isn’t a post about if you should eat bread. You can insert any foods you feel are, “off limit” into this scenario. The fact is, bread + butter don’t make you fat. An excess of calories is what causes weight gain.
One of the things I’m most proud of is how I no longer restrict foods. I can sit in a bikini and eat bread or a burger guilt free! Progress in growth come in a lot of forms! Nowadays, the only foods “off limits” are ones that I’m allergic to or that aggrevate my stomach…red onions *sigh*. Instead of avoiding certain foods I include them in more reasonable portions. This has reduced my cravings, need to binge and make me an all around happier person.
This kind of change in mentality is possible, but it takes time! The notion that one salad won’t make you healthy and one burger won’t make you fat is a simple but I think an important analogy.
Extremes may help you reach your goals, but at what cost and for how long. Even healthy eating can be taken to the extreme despite good intentions. Orthorexia for example is when people become obsessed with healthy eating.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Restrictive eating in any form can lead to:
?Complete elimination of certain food groups
?Feelings of guilt/shame when eating certain foods
?Binge eating
?Anxiety when eating food you would consider “unhealthy”
?Missing out on social occasions because of a need to comply to a diet
?Constant cravings for foods which can lead to binging
?Stress related to eating
?Difficulty eating foods you didn’t prepare yourself
?Emotional eating
Please remember, it is 100% okay to enjoy food. It is also okay to seek help if you are struggling with these things. There is no shame in that!