Chances are, you’ve been driving yourself crazy trying to figure out which foods are “good” versus which foods are “bad”.

Because you’re desperate to eat healthier and lose the weight so you can increase your quality of life.

You want to put all the puzzle pieces together perfectly so you can finally eat the “right things”.

Needless to say, this can become extremely frustrating.

Since it can feel impossible to navigate the current food & diet industry.

Food rules and nutrition recommendations are constantly being thrown at us from self-proclaimed experts.

There are constantly new miracle diets or health fads that compete for the top spot in the market.

Not only is this exhausting, but this can also give you a myriad of limiting food beliefs.

• See: Limiting Food Beliefs

You believe that you don’t have the body you want, because you’re not eating the “right” foods.

And you just haven’t found the perfect diet.

Which leaves you desperate to find the exact method of eating that will solve all of your problems.

So you can finally have the results with your body you want.

Sounds familiar?

You’re not alone, my love.

Almost every woman struggles with this.

The past version of me was desperate for the answers.

I wanted nothing more than to know which foods were “good” and which foods were “bad”.

To me, if I had those answers, I would be able to lose weight and feel confident.

I was obsessed with nutrition for years, since I was desperate to find a weight loss solution that actually worked.

For so long, I would read all the books and take all the courses. 

And even with all of this knowledge, I felt stuck.

It wasn’t until I understood how this was damaging my mindset that I became free around food.

I’m here to give you clarity as to why this method of thinking is hurting you.

And how you can escape it to gain the relationship with food that you really want.

Black and White Thinking

Many women I work with are hard-working and driven with Type-A personalities (much like myself). 

They are extremely capable of getting the results they want professionally.

These are the same women who often identify as a perfectionist.

Where they either complete a task perfectly or not at all.

They expect nothing less than the best possible result. 

Where failure is rarely an option and is something to be avoided at all costs.

This causes them to have dichotomous thinking patterns.

Which is when you distinguish things as “good” or “bad”. 

Unfortunately, this perfectionism mentality trickles into their relationship with food.

They want to control food and their bodies so they can get the results they want.

So, they endlessly search for nutrition recommendations and diet plans that “really work”. 

And they start classifying foods as “good” or “bad” as well.

This not only prevents these women from losing weight and getting healthier, but it damages their relationship with food & body. 

Some common black and white food behaviors:

• You either restrict yourself at a meal or eat everything on your plate
• You either eat perfectly or you “fall off track”
• You’ll have a single bite of “unhealthy” food. You eat more because you failed anyways

See how this works? 

Have you demonstrated black & white thinking patterns in your past?

This pass or fail mentality with food is what’s keeping you stuck.

Let’s cover how you can reframe healthy eating in a way that actually serves you.

Food Is Neutral

Here’s a concept that might blow your mind: there is no such thing as “good food” or “bad food”.

Food itself is “neutral”. 

While there are technically some foods that are better for the body than others, there are no foods that are “morally good” or “morally bad”. 

When we classify foods in a black & white manner, we attach moralism around it.

Which causes internal suffering when we eat foods that we consider “bad”. 

You’ll consider yourself a bad person. Which is when a moral dilemma ensues. 

Cue the self-rejection and punishment whenever you eat “bad” foods.

When I first learned this, I thought it was so relatable.

I thought, “No wonder I feel so much suffering when I eat the “wrong” foods!”. 

This is a subtle, but very important distinction to notice with food.

You cause the internal suffering based on a moral dilemma you’ve created around food.

Which usually stems from which foods you think are “good” or “bad” based on what experts have told you is nutritious or not.

• See: What Nutrition Advice You Should Actually Follow

This will keep you feeling trapped with food.

As we know, perfectionism – especially when it comes to the way we eat – is never sustainable. 

The “How” Is What Matters

Now that we know you should avoid black & white food thinking…

…how do we know which foods have value?

A simple way of learning this is to go by the rule: the dose makes the poison.

It’s not about the food we eat, but how we choose to use a food that determines its value.

Some factors that play into the “how” with food:

• The reason we chose to eat

• The environment we ate in

• The quality of the food

• The time of day we ate

• The amount of food eaten

So, the truth is, you cannot actually separate the good foods from the bad ones. 

Work with food goes so much deeper (why I’m obsessed with this work). 

What to Do Next

You need to be willing to dive deep and see how different food affects your body over time.

Be the watcher of your body and operate with curiosity and compassion. 

Observe how food makes you feel over time.

And never go into self-rejection, punishment, or hate based on what foods you eat.

Regardless of whether that food is considered “good” or “bad” for you.

Instead of searching for the “perfect diet”, focus instead on how you can get more in touch with your own body.

This work is what allows you to eat healthy with ease long-term.

It’s so worth it.