Embarking on a journey towards healthier eating habits? Forget the rigid guidelines and embrace the freedom of choice. Discover how the absence of rules can lead to a more balanced, nutritious, and enjoyable diet.
There’s a critical difference between food rules and healthy eating habits
Food rules are rigid: you have strict parameters around how you should eat, and feel guilty or anxious when you don’t eat according to that plan
- Healthy eating habits are flexible: prioritize nutritious ingredients but don’t agonize over what to eat
- Following food rules can be physically, mentally, and socially exhausting, which impacts overall quality of life
There Are No Bad Foods
Morality has long snuck into the way we talk and think about eating
- If a food is deemed inherently bad, and eating it is bad behavior, it isn’t a huge leap to think you’re a bad person for eating that way
- Dalina Soto, an anti-diet dietitian, expertly called out the problem: you aren’t a horrible person with no self-control because you ate some ice cream; you just ate something delicious because you wanted it
You Don’t Need to Burn Anything Off
Trying to compensate with exercise when you feel you’ve eaten too much can have a significant negative impact on your quality of life
- Instead of beating yourself up, or trying to atone for eating more than feels comfortable, just let your body do its thing and digest. You’ll feel fine again soon, and chances are you will feel less hungry later on.
Forget About Clean Eating
If you want to eat healthfully, a better approach is to prioritize nutrient-dense foods-fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, healthy oils, and lean proteins-without vowing to only eat these foods.
- It’s a flexible and realistic approach that won’t have you constantly questioning whether certain foods are clean enough or not.
Be Mindful and Flexible
The goal isn’t to give up on good nutrition but to make it less stressful and more sustainable.
Stop Tracking Your Intake
Restriction-induced weight loss precipitates physiological adaptations, including fewer calories burned overall, less fat oxidation (converting stored fat to energy), a decrease in the fullness-signaling hormone leptin, and an increase in the hunger-signal hormone ghrelin.
- Soto encourages an intuitive eating approach: eat what you want, when you want it.
Don’t Demonize Macronutrients
There’s no evidence that a low-carb diet is any healthier than one that includes a balance of all macronutrients.
- The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend getting anywhere from 45 to 65% of your calories from carbs, 10 to 35% from protein, and 20 to 35 percent from fat. Most people’s intake already falls within these ranges.
