Feeling Guilty After Eating: How to Get Rid of Food Guilt

With the holidays right around the corner, it’s easy to fall in the trap of feeling guilty for the foods we eat.

Ever since we were young, we’ve been conditioned to think that holiday parties and foods are bad for our weight loss.

But would you believe me if I told you that food guilt is actually sabotaging your weight loss?

It may sound backwards, but stressing about food, or constantly worrying about what you’re going to eat is hindering you from reaching your goal weight.

Achieving food freedom

When I was on Weight Watchers I thought I had food freedom. I thought I was able to make choices around the foods I ate.

But the longer I was on that diet, the more I started to realize that I was being controlled by food.

The first step to achieving food freedom is releasing the control food has over you. By first recognizing it even has the control. If you’re controlled by food you’re constantly thinking about food. How much to eat and whether or not it fits into your plan.

I realized food had control over me when it was all I could think about. 

I would plan out every single day to the T. Leaving maybe a few points here and there throughout the day. Just in case there was some treat at work that I wanted to indulge in. 

Rather than thinking of food in terms of its nutrient content, or how well it reacted with my body, I thought of it in terms of points. 

I measured everything in the beginning. Then slowly started eyeballing. But I always felt like I was cheating when I was eyeballing. Then would feel guilty if I didn’t own up to how many points a meal actually was. 

Having food freedom means you don’t think about food in terms of points, calories or macros. It means that you don’t think about food as good or bad. 

It means you have absolute freedom to eat what you want, when you want. To think of food in terms of how it’s going to bless your body. How it will help your body run in tip top condition.

Why your diet isn’t working

That’s actually the problem with most diets. They’re extremely restrictive and quite hard to maintain. 

They eliminate foods that are actually nutritious. Or they require you to eat foods that don’t actually play well with your body. 

For example, let’s say you’re on the keto diet. You’re told to eat high-fat, low-carb foods. Which takes out things like apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and many other foods that are actually healthy for you.

When I was on Weight Watchers, I would avoid many foods. Things like avocados or almonds because they simply were too many points in my day. Food still had control over what I ate. 

 Not only are diets restrictive, but they cause a lot of stress and food guilt feelings. 

You’re stressed about what you can eat during the day. How many times have you planned out your whole day? Only to have a friend text you asking if you’d like to grab a drink after work? How did that make you feel?

If you’re feeling guilty after eating that cheese plate, your diet is controlling your life. 

When you release the guilt and the diet, you can finally get rid of food guilt.

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How to stop feeling guilty after eating

But how do you release the food guilt? Especially when you’ve spent so many years trying different diets, hoping that one of them will work?

Through intuitive eating, that’s how you begin to release the guilt. 

It’s not easy in the beginning, but intuitive eating takes all the fear, stress and guilt away from foods. 

No food is off limits when you eat intuitively. There’s no more tracking, measuring or weighing.

You’re probably thinking, but won’t I gain all the weight back if I’m not following a diet? That’s the reason I started one in the first place, was to lose the weight. 

The reason intuitive eating works, and can actually help you keep the weight off is because nothing is off limits. 

When no food is off limits you won’t actually crave that food as much.

It’s how the old saying goes, when you can’t have something you just want it even more. 

Do you ever get that feeling after being on vacation where you eat out for every meal. By the time you get home your body is crying out for veggies and more nutrient dense foods?

Yes, that’s intuitive eating at its finest. Because your body is telling you what foods it needs to run in tip top shape.

So when you can finally have whatever you want, you’ll realize that your body will crave what it’s actually in need of.

If you need more help with intuitive eating, get this free beginners guide to mindful eating.

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