We鈥檙e in the midst of a global pandemic and national political upheaval unlike anything we鈥檝e seen in the past 150 years.听Still, wellness influencers, , and even are finding plenty of time to fret about dieting and weight gain. In response, anti-diet nutritionists, therapists, and activists have to point out that a too tight grip on your eating habits 补苍诲听听that leave听you and physically uncomfortable.
I agree. In April听I wrote about how quarantine-induced worries linked to听food and exercise can backfire, and why a more relaxed approach to food听leads to better health. However,听this is easier said than done. Our relationship with weight and diets is complex, and it can be tough to distinguish a healthy habit from an unhealthy one.听If you鈥檙e working toward听a healthier mindset about听food, a good first step is to identify your own food rules听and then challenge them.
A food rule is any kind of black-and-white thinking about food. Some might be holdovers from a specific diet you鈥檝e tried in the past, like the idea that you should avoid carbs, or that there鈥檚 a static听number of calories you should eat in a day. Others are extreme versions of generally sound advice,听like the idea听that you must only eat whole foods,听or that sugar and processed goods are explicitly off-limits.
Some of these ideas are grounded in ,听but there鈥檚 a critical difference between food rules and healthy eating habits. The latter are flexible:听you prioritize nutritious ingredients听but don鈥檛 agonize over what to eat听and aren鈥檛 stressed if you go a day without vegetables or finish a meal feeling overly full. Food rules are rigid: you have strict parameters听around how you should eat, and feel guilty or anxious (or like you need to compensate) when you don鈥檛 eat according to that plan. 鈥淔ollowing food rules can be physically, mentally, and socially exhausting, which impacts overall quality of life,鈥 says , a dietitian and certified personal trainer. Here are six听new anti-rules to learn听in the new year.
There Are No Bad Foods
Morality has long snuck into the way we talk and think about eating. Look at听the way that various foods are听marketed: something听low in calories, sugar, and fat might be听labeled 鈥済uilt-free.鈥 High-sugar, high-fat, and high-calorie foods are deemed 鈥渟infully delicious,鈥 an indulgence to feel a little ashamed of. It might seem normal to think of certain foods as good or bad, seeing as how moralizing eating patterns is a听natural product of our culture鈥檚 fixation on healthy living. But that doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 helpful, says Chan.
If a certain food is deemed inherently bad, and eating it is bad behavior, it isn鈥檛 a huge leap to think you鈥檙e a bad person for eating that way. Food quickly becomes a source of stress and shame, rather than nourishment and pleasure. , an anti-diet dietitian, expertly called听out the problem in an Instagram : you aren鈥檛 a horrible person with no self-control because you ate some ice cream;听you just ate something delicious because you wanted it. Thinking of it this way makes it easier to let go and move on. The point isn鈥檛 that ice cream is nutrient packed or that it should be the cornerstone of your diet鈥攖hose听wouldn鈥檛 be accurate or helpful, either! It鈥檚 that there鈥檚 never a reason to feel guilty about eating, no matter the nutritional value of the food.
Forget About Clean Eating
Clean eating is such a common phrase that it might not raise an eyebrow, but it鈥檚 problematic, too. It implies that other foods and ways of eating are dirty,听which falls into the same moralizing trap mentioned above. Plus, there鈥檚 no real definition of what 鈥渃lean鈥 means. 鈥淧eople start developing arbitrary rules about their food, which leads to restrictive and unhealthy food patterns,鈥 says , a dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating and sports nutrition.
There鈥檚 evidence to back this up. A of 1,266 young adults published in the journal听Nutrients found that over half the participants had heard of clean eating and thought of it as healthy, but that their definitions of clean听were all over the place. The researchers pointed out that while clean eating is often portrayed as healthy, it is often linked with disordered eating. It鈥檚 a dichotomous way of thinking, 鈥渃haracterized by extreme 鈥榓ll bad鈥 or 鈥榓ll good鈥 views toward food,鈥 the paper states. Additionally, someone can use clean eating to mask behaviors like severe calorie restriction, claiming that they鈥檙e avoiding various foods for health reasons when in fact they may have an underlying eating disorder or disordered-eating behaviors. The researchers also found clean eating to be associated with nutritional deficiencies, since restrictive behavior can go undetected and unchecked for so long.
If you want to eat healthfully, a better approach is to prioritize nutrient-dense foods鈥攆ruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, healthy oils, and lean proteins鈥攚ithout vowing to only eat these foods. It鈥檚 a flexible and realistic approach that won鈥檛 have you constantly questioning whether certain foods are clean enough or not.
Stop Tracking Your Intake
Religiously counting calories or macros听(carbs, fat, and protein) probably isn鈥檛 going to have the effect you want it to. One of 25 existing studies published in Frontiers in Psychology found that restricted eating habits rarely led to weight loss and, in fact, often corresponded with weight gain.
There鈥檚 no consensus on why exactly this happens, but a in the International Journal of Obesity explains that the body is designed to protect against weight loss. Restriction-induced weight loss听precipitates听physiological adaptations, including fewer calories burned overall, less fat oxidation (converting stored fat to energy), a decrease in the fullness-signaling hormone leptin, and an increase in the hunger-signaling hormone ghrelin. Even if someone who has lost weight successfully manages to override their hunger signals, their metabolism may听still be slower than before, making it increasingly harder to keep burning听fat.听This might be why many dieters don鈥檛 see the results they want from calorie counting.
Soto instead encourages an intuitive eating approach: eat what you want, when you want it. Our bodies know to seek out the variety of nutrients that they need to function, and proponents of intuitive eating explain that听paying close attention听to your cravings will naturally lead听to a nutritious diet. When it comes to gauging how much food your body requires, it鈥檚 far easier to eat until you鈥檙e satisfied than it is to count and track calories.
Don鈥檛 Demonize Macronutrients
Popular as the keto diet听may be, there鈥檚 no evidence that a low-carb diet is any healthier than one that includes a balance of all macronutrients. The same goes for low-fat diets. A of 121 previously conducted, randomized controlled trials published in The British Medical Journal听found that none of the diets limiting certain macronutrients like carbs or fats are any more effective at improving health than a regular, varied diet.
Still, it鈥檚 common to demonize certain carbs or fats, even if you aren鈥檛 on a particular diet. Maybe you pass on the bread basket because you don鈥檛 want to eat too many carbs, or always use nonstick cooking spray instead of oil because you鈥檙e wary of adding too much fat to a meal. Soto says this isn鈥檛 necessary. All three macronutrients play an important role in health and function. The recommend getting anywhere from 45 to 65 percent of your calories from carbs, 10 to 35 percent from protein, and 20 to 35 percent from fat. There鈥檚 a lot of wiggle room there. Most people鈥檚 intake already falls within these ranges, so striking the perfect balance of macros day after day isn鈥檛 something you should overthink.
You Don鈥檛 Need to Burn Anything Off
Food is more than just a source of energy, Chan says. 鈥淲e eat food for so many reasons, and it鈥檚 important to honor those,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e connect with our culture through food, we connect with others over a good meal, and we eat for pleasure and nostalgia, all of which supports overall well-being.鈥澨鼴ut the idea that you must earn food with a grueling workout听is still pervasive.
Trying to compensate with exercise when you feel you鈥檝e eaten too much can have a significant negative impact on your quality of life, Chan says. At worst, it sets into motion a cycle of overeating, compensating, and overeating again. Instead of beating yourself up, or trying to atone for eating more than feels comfortable, just let your body do its thing and digest. You鈥檒l feel fine again soon, and chances are you鈥檒l feel less hungry later on.
Yes, there鈥檚 nuance here. Food still fuels movement, and there鈥檚 nothing wrong with adjusting your intake accordingly when you鈥檙e training. The important thing is to not be too rigid听or punish yourself for eating too much. A strict calories-in, calories-out approach to fueling isn鈥檛 very effective听anyway. There鈥檚 refuting the popular idea that eating 3,500 calories leads to one pound of weight gain, and equally that fitness trackers are notoriously terrible at measuring the actual number of calories burned during a workout.
Be Mindful and Flexible
鈥淒itching food rules opens the door for nutritious foods, not so nutritious foods, and everything in between to be enjoyed,鈥 Chan says.听The goal isn鈥檛 to give up on good nutrition听but to make it less stressful and more sustainable. If your intention is to feel your best, be mindful of how different foods affect your mood and energy levels. Use that to guide what you choose to eat, instead of sticking to black-and-white听rules that set you up for failure.