Do my food rules rule me?

Let’s talk about Food Rules as we kick off the Christmas Season! Food rules are exhausting, but they also hold a mysterious promise of change if they are followed.

Here are some food rules I have internalized over the years off the top of my head.

1. Fast food is basically evil incarnate and an assault on your health.

2. Kids who eat fast food become obese.

3. Carbs make you fat. Low carb diets work.

4. Don’t drink diet coke or eat white bread.

5. Eating broccoli is the best thing you can do for your brain.

6. Eating leafy greens will basically fix every problem you have in your life.

7. Don’t eat after 6 p.m.

8. Drink red wine.

9. Only eat half a banana.

10. Track all your exercise! Track everything you do and everything you eat to be successful.

11. Stop drinking alcohol.

12. Sugar is in everything, even canned vegetables. Don’t eat those.

13. Sugar “lights up” the same part of our brain as cocaine. Candy bar= cocaine?

14. Too much fruit is bad too. But still, eat fruit. Fruit is good for you.

15. Eat as much bacon as you want. Bacon is fine. But no carbs.

16. Shop on the perimeter of the grocery store.

17. Avoid foods with long ingredient lists.

18. Local is better.

19. Eat mostly plants.

20. No more processed foods. Processed foods are basically bad. Avoid.

21. You can eat avocados. Avocados have escaped ridicule with bacon somehow.

22. Avoid oils. Most oils. Definitely vegetable oil. But maybe not coconut oil.

23. Buy organic foods, the other foods are basically bad for you. Cancer. Pesticides.

24. Drink warm lemon water in the morning.

25. Sneak vegetables into your kids’ food without them knowing.

26. Sneak vegetables into your husband’s food without him knowing.

27. DRINK MORE WATER. Drown yourself in water. Go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.

28. Nothing tastes better than thin feels.

29. Eat MORE fruits and vegetables. People who don’t are not healthy.

30. Sugar goes by different names on food labels so find out all the secret names for sugar and eliminate those foods immediately also. Don’t get tricked.

I am going to stop at #30 because these rules are endlessly exhausting. What rules do you have internally mulling around about food that play through your head throughout the day? I bet we could easily get to 1,000 different food rules in 10 minutes.

So, if you are anything like me, you have spent years thinking about all the different ways you are messing up your body over and over and over again.

Make a list of your food rules. Start poking holes in your list. Has trying to follow these rules been worth your time? Have they followed through on their promises? Has it made you more connected in your relationships? More connected to yourself? Is it humanly possible to follow these and still live your life?

Or has it made you feel constantly stuck in your head, food rules making decisions for you and telling you when to feel good or bad about yourself?

Thanks for thinking about this with me.

* Nutrition information is important and helpful! The issue here is that a lot of us get so caught up in what we should or shouldn't be doing we completely disconnect from ourselves and stray from one food trend to another, constantly failing with unrealistic expectations.