I am a firm believer that there are no good or bad foods. There are only foods that are worth it and not worth it. And we may potentially have to change your viewpoint on which ones are worth it and not haha. And there are definitely times when you should avoid certain TRIGGER foods when you have specific goals you’re working towards.
So where did the concept of good and bad foods come from? Honestly – I don’t know and I don’t feel like doing a Google search to figure it out. My best guess though is that it started with well meaning intentions. Whole foods that you could pick/hunt/gather yourself equals GOOD. Foods that are processed or have tons of salt, sugar, fat equals BAD. Good foods keep you healthy and lean, bad foods keep you unhealthy and fat. So eat the good, don’t the bad.
Here’s the issue though. We live in a society where celebrations, grief, excitement – all the emotions and all the events, typically center around food. Cookies, cakes, lasagnas, dips, chips – things that are “bad”. And what happens when a good person eats “bad” food? They typically feel guilty. And that guilt makes them feel bad, and sometimes when we feel bad we eat more bad food because we already started and we’re already bad so why not just keep going? And then a viscious cycle is started that ends with us feeling even worse about ourselves.
And life isn’t about feeling bad.
Life should be about feeling good. And we shouldn’t have to feel guilt over celebrating a birthday or grieving for whatever reason. And for me, for my clients, that’s where macro counting comes in.
Counting macros allows me to plan ahead for events and then just fill in the rest of my macros around that. For example, if it’s my kids birthday party and I know I’m going to have pizza and donuts – then I will prelog a couple slices of pizza and two donuts. That means the rest of my day will be filled with protein and veggies – but I won’t feel like I’m missing out.
Tracking macros allows me to decide what is important and what isn’t. It allows me to decide which foods are worth it and which ones aren’t. However, there are certain times when I really have to question whether or not those “worth it” foods are worth it because sometimes those foods can turn into trigger foods (which you can read about here.)
If you want to leave behind the notion of good/bad foods but don’t know how – click the contact me button! I’d love to help you shift your perspective 🙂