nosh magazine
4 STEPS TO
GUILT-FREE EATING
Fiona Sutherland provides four simple
steps to guilt-free eating.
or many people, food and eating
can be a great source of angst,
especially when coupled with a desire to
change their body shape or weight.
F
Making healthier changes to your lifestyle,
whether that be incorporating regular
exercise or eating more regularly through
the day, can really help with your weight
management. But, unfortunately such
strategies don’t guarantee an achievement
of a “goal weight” or “perfect size”. Now,
this may be a difficult concept to embrace
or accept, especially if you’ve been actively
pursuing weight loss for a long time but,
perhaps, the solution lies in being able to
eat with less stress. Here are four tips to
help you achieve “guilt-free eating”.
STEP
Let go of the food rules
Every diet or weight loss plan
comes with a set of rules that
make you feel in control. The list of do,
don’t, good, bad, right and wrong foods are
often extensive and the bottom line is that
most often these diets or “plans” are not
actually designed for you.
1
It’s true that some people flourish when they
are on diets that are low sugar or gluten-free
(for example), but honestly, these people are in
the vast minority and any sweeping statements
that are made about particular styles of eating
are certainly not applicable to everyone.
The concept behind food rules is that they
provide structure and direction but, in the
real world, most people find them difficult
to adhere to and, as such, end up eating in
an “all-or-nothing” way. By this I mean,
once you eat one thing that is off the list,
you feel like you may as well eat another,
then you start to think “well, I’ll just start
again tomorrow” and the cycle of
frustration begins.
Many people fear that if they let go of food
rules they will lose control and eat everything,
but in my experience this is usually very
short-lived or it doesn’t even happen at all.
So what’s the alternative?
STEP
2
It’s okay to relax, but
still employ some
eating guidelines
My suggestion is that, instead of “rules” per
se, you might have some guidelines and
boundaries that are realistic and sustainable.
For example, rather than cutting out certain
foods, aim to incorporate them into your
weekly diet in an intentional way and view
them as just “part of my diet.” You might start
off planning ahead to incorporate previously
“banned” foods, but then move towards a
more flexible place. By this I mean you might
organise to meet a friend for coffee and cake,
but then move towards deciding once you get
there if you actually feel like the cake with
your coffee. Then, if you do feel like it, take
your time and enjoy it.
Eat your food
(especially your
3
favourites!) slowly
and mindfully
STEP
Mindfulness, in one way or another, has
been around since ancient times and
mindful eating is one way you can engage
Fiona Sutherland, APD
Learn more about Fiona: website | profile
Fiona is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, Sports Dietitian and Director and
Co-Founder of Body Positive Australia, which promotes a healthy relationship the food,
eating and the body.
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www.n4foodandhealth.com
with your food in a new and different way.
Essentially, mindful eating is really about
slowing down and really engaging all your
senses in the eating experience. It’s nothing
more complicated than that, but it does
take some practice to master.
Many people find it a new and wonderful
experience and they discover that the foods
they thought they loved, really aren’t that
tasty, while others provide a more
enjoyable experience than they expected.
Slowing down can also help increase an
awareness of appetite, which means you are
more likely to stop eating when you’ve
actually had enough.
STEP
Watch your language
It seems to be socially acceptable
(sometimes even encouraged),
for groups of people to talk negatively
about food, eating, die