Breaking Free from Guilt and Shame: A Journey to a Healthier Relationship with Food

I stopped training too hard when I realized that everyone at the gym was in constant pain.

Once you buy into the fitness culture that has you constantly afraid to eat foods or classifies food as good or bad, the fear of food is all you will know and think about

The guilt that comes from eating certain foods did not come out of nowhere; it came from complicated messages about food and how that is bad for your fitness journey, and how you are doomed if you eat them.

Look at your stomach are you proud of it?

Now, how did that question make you feel?

My guess is not good.

Stay away from accounts that shame you because of your struggle with fitness.

If shame worked, a lot of us would love to exercise and would be a lot fitter than we are today.

Shame and guilt in fitness can mislead you.

I soon realized that people use shame as a tool for motivation, but that can be a heavy load to carry sometimes.

Your coach might have chased you down for having a bugger or sharwama when on a fitness journey.

When you think about it, that has not stopped you from not eating shawarma. Instead, you eat some more with the motivation that when you are finally ready, you will stop and that you have this under control.?

Or that you would burn it off when the time to exercise comes

Remember, you did it before, and you have been waiting to finally have things under control.

But how long does that motivation last??

How long before the motivation comes

And when that motivation refuses to show up, how does it feel

Do you feel like you are letting yourself down

Do you? feel guilty for not having the control you thought you would have

Do you regret eating that cookie?

?

The dark pattern

As I trained more clients and spoke to more people, I realized the reality of people through conversations.

They were acting like everything was fine, but they needed help beyond counting calories, beyond pills and detoxes, beyond YouTube videos.

They needed support.

They would start a new program today and a new nutrition plan.

They follow all fitness accounts that look great, and maybe they could get their breakthrough.?

They got good at going on extreme diets and extreme fitness routines and saying all the right things about how to eat healthy…deep down, it was all the same dark pattern.

Label foods, feel guilty for eating the wrong things, and feel disappointed for not having the energy to exercise.

They always felt as if something was missing, like they were doing something wrong or were bound to do something wrong.?

Over time, I learned that most people just want to either lose weight, feel good in their bodies, have enough energy to get through the day,?

They did not want to starve anymore, or have to endure hard workouts out, or have to keep looking for the perfect shape

They re there of feeling guilty when they eat because they could be ruining their progress.?

They want more?

They want something that would bring them joy instead, a more sustainable approach.?

Let Go

Let go of the expectations you have for what your fitness journey could look like,?

What do you think your body would look like?

And embrace what makes you feel great today