You can’t appreciate the light without darkness, rewards without challenges, inhalation without exhalation and movement without stillness. Life is a constant dance between contrasting situations, ideas, and states of being. It is only fair then that we afford this same leniency and appreciation to our diet – being conscious and making healthy choices as much as possible, yet also allowing some freedom and flexibility and being kind to ourselves when we do. Because we won’t get it perfect all of the time and we need to be open to that idea, in order to set ourselves up for success and not be easily defeated or disappointed.
So many people struggle with this concept of duality when it comes to diet. Because unlike many situations in life, diet should be easily controllable, right? For the most part, we can choose what we feed ourselves, we have the power to control our weight and nutritional wellbeing. Unfortunately, as with anything that we have control over, it can open the door to self-criticism and guilt if we don’t make the “perfect” choices all of the time. Additionally, we don’t always appreciate that the drivers behind our dietary choices and ability to stick to them are multifactorial and complex. Our relationship with food can be quite intricate and can stem from a lifetime of environmental factors. It is therefore not uncommon for people to have a tendency toward an ‘all or nothing’ approach to diet. Either we are following the “perfect diet” all of the time, or, there is a lapse and we go the complete opposite direction. It can be difficult to comfortably dance the line between making mostly healthful choices and occasional nutrient poorer choices.
Like yoga, a healthy diet works best when we can remain neutral in times of celebration and relaxation with our diet, not focusing on what we could have done better or what the impact of the less healthy option(s) will have – essentially, detachment. Guilt associated with our diet can feed into emotional eating and can even have a flow on effect to our mood day to day. One relaxed snack, meal, or day is not going to have a significant impact on anything. However, if we ruminate on this and then continue to indulge, this will make a difference over days, weeks and months. Having the ability to enjoy yourself and then return to your regular, healthy diet is when people really flourish. There is equilibrium. Afterall, life is fleeting, we want to support good health and quality of life well into the future but we also want to enjoy ourselves with people we care about - even if that means straying from your regular diet from time to time.
Take this as a gentle reminder to be kind to yourself. To anticipate the detours from your ideal diet and to accept that, then move forward. As controllable as diet is, it is far more complex than we give it credit and there will be bumps in the road! Try not to villainise food or nutrients - good vs bad - this can unknowingly create unhealthy attitudes and behaviours around food, which often have the opposite effect to what people want. Rather, know what to limit and what to focus more on. It is never too late to make changes and your body and mind will thank you for that.
Author: Belinda Elwin, Dietitian & Nutritionist, APD
