Guilt and eating “healthy”

Eating what makes you happy may not be eating the things that are “good”

In my ongoing chat about our feelings of guilt, a natural topic is that of eating “healthy.” Why the quotes? Because to me, eating healthy means eating what makes you happy and eating the things that are good for your body.

And that may produce guilt

Are those mutually exclusive? Sometimes, and that’s where the guilt comes in.

You might think that eating the things that make us happy involves vast quantities of chocolate, pizza, ice cream, chips, … and the list goes on.

And, yes, in the short-term, those things do make us happy. They taste incredible, the texture is amazing, and they lift our spirits.

But we know intellectually that these things are “bad” for us, and we feel guilty about eating them. We know that we “should” be eating more vegetables, more fruit, more whole grains.

Why eat things that aren’t good for us?

So why don’t we? Why do we eat the “bad” stuff and then feel guilty about it?

Perhaps we haven’t found the “good” stuff that we like as much as pizza. Or that satisfies our soul like spaghetti.

So, try foods that you’re not used to. Try different recipes. Try quinoa. Try kale. You might like it. Or not – and then you can try something else that you read about that’s supposed to be “healthy.”

It happens to everyone

And for those of us who do eat “healthy” most of the time, there are still times when nothing but a Snickers bar will do. Biting into that yummy chocolate and then getting your teeth stuck in the peanuts and caramel… Well, you get the idea. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was hungry late one Saturday afternoon and I wanted a Snickers bar. So I had a Snickers bar. True, it was a fun-sized one, but it satisfied me. I knew I’d have to do a few more minutes on the treadmill to work it off, but it was worth it.

Actions have consequences

See, that’s the thing. There are always consequences to our actions. If you think about your actions, and their repercussions, there’s no reason to feel guilty about taking the action.

But there’s no reason to feel guilty about them

“If I do x, then I’ll have to do y.” No big deal. No reason to feel guilty.

And that reasoning follows through all your actions, not just eating.