No ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ Foods:Labeling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ creates unnecessary guilt. Enjoy a variety of foods in moderation. The thing is, categorizing certain foods and food groups, a behavior born out of diet culture, can lead to a cycle of guilt, shame, restrictive behaviors, and even a general fear around food. Labeling foods as good or bad, and then judging ourselves for one cupcake or a week’s worth of salads, is a cognitive distortion psychologists call “all-or-nothing” thinking, a form of thinking in extreme terms. By viewing food as either “good” or “bad” we set ourselves up for automatic failure if we do not choose “good” foods 100% of the time. It can also detract from the true purpose of food, which is to fuel our bodies. In other words—the exact opposite of what we at Found want for anyone on a weight care journey! With that in mind, let’s dig into the effects of labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” and look at why ditching those labels might be the best thing you can do for your health.🥹

Choose foods based on how they make your body feel.🙌🏼🫶🏻

Rather than attaching words and value to your food choices, try to make decisions around foods based on how they make you feel in your body. Before a meal, instead of saying what’s “good vs. bad” or “healthy vs. unhealthy,” you can ask yourself: what is going to nourish my body ? What would make me feel full and energetic for a whole afternoon?

You fuel your body with what it needs at the moment, and that allows you to make healthier choices for both your body and mind. In doing this, you can eventually view food through the lens of self-care, rather than self-control.

Practice self-compassion.

It takes practice to adapt a new approach to food and break the habit of “labeling.” It’s not easy work. Take it one day at a time, and be gentle with yourself! If you start to feel lost, remind yourself that while certain foods may be more or less nutritious, what you eat does not make you good or bad. You can repeat to yourself if you start to feel stuck in old patterns:

Eating a piece of macaron does not make me ‘bad.’ I’m worthy of enjoying macarons! 😆

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