Forget About All the Food Rules to Change Your Life (part 1)

I’ve been fascinated with nutrition and wellness for years — for as long as I can remember really. And for different reasons.

But mostly, I wanted to change my relationship with food, because it wasn’t a healthy one.

In the beginning I was so naive that I had no idea how bad my diet and relationship with food was. Because the world made everything I was doing seem normal and “right.”

I was a picky eater for a long time.

I turned up my nose at most vegetables.

I feared fat, so bad. I would eat pretty much anything labeled “fat free.”

My afternoon snacks in high school included candy bars, top ramen and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

I drank diet soda and anything labeled “sugar free.” I put Splenda on everything.

I truly believed that if I wanted to be healthy and “in shape” I had to cut calories in any way possible and exercise for hours.

I craved a daily calorie deficit. I counted calories, obsessively.

I thought about food every second.

I was almost always hungry but tried to suppress my hunger constantly.

I weighed myself multiple times a day and the number on the scaled dictated my day.

I was moody.

I suffered from uncomfortable digestive problems.

I was a mess.

My turning point was when I enrolled at Bastyr University to get my master’s degree in Nutrition back in 2010.

I still wasn’t my healthiest at that point in my life. In fact, I still suffered from disordered eating and ate and drank many things that did not serve my body (or mind) well.

It took me several years to finally decide to do something. And when I did it completely changed my life.

Here’s what I did.

I stopped following every single “food rule” I’ve ever heard.

All the rules that tell you that eating gluten free is the healthiest way to eat. The rules that say that the Keto diet is the only way to lose the weight for good. The rules that say vegetarian or vegan is the best way. Even the rules that say you should eat only organic, whole foods to be healthy.

I made a conscious effort to forget them all. To forget the hype associated with all of these different ways of eating. Because do you know what? There is no single way of eating that is perfect for everyone. And you don’t deserve to have to live your life following unnecessary rules that will just leave your head spinning.

For some, eating gluten free is necessary, but for most, eating gluten free is a rule to follow that puts restrictions on what you can eat. For some, eating vegan is a way of life and for others it just doesn’t make sense. For some, eating low-carb makes them feel great and energized, while for you, not enough carbs may leave you constantly dragging and hungry.

So unless you have a meaningful reason to eat a certain way, please, please forget about all these different diets and fads that tempt you into thinking you’ll be healthier by following them. When in fact, they will just drive you crazy and make you feel bad about yourself.

Just because your best friend started juicing every day and feels amazing, does not mean that you should too or that you will feel the same. Just because your sister has been a strict vegan for years and is the healthiest she’s ever been, does not mean the same for you.

Do you see what I’m saying? If you can let go off all these crazy, restricting rules, it will be the best thing you can do for yourself. It was the best thing that I ever did and it completely changed my life.

Coming up next week is part 2. Stay tuned. I’ll be sharing all the good that comes along with making a pledge to simply eat, instead of eating for a specific reason.

Make the change and you won’t regret it. I’ll teach you how.