I work with athletes and non-athletes who are trying to eat healthier every day. With my help, they don’t get a list of right or wrong foods, they get a list of foods to choose from based on a category. We build meals based on the categories not based on if a food is right or wrong! We create meals that make you feel better, not foods that make you feel guilty, right or wrong.
I get asked in almost each session with clients “What am I doing wrong??” “What foods are bad for me?”
I like to answer the question with “What are you doing right?, “What can we do better to make this symptom go away?” and “Have you made the connection with your symtom and the foods you eat?” There really is not right or wrong food. Just foods that make you feel better or foods that make you feel worse.
Most of us, including me are used to being told we are doing things wrong. But being told we are wrong doesn’t really inspire us to do better (sometimes it may), it instead makes us feel guilty, inadequate and self-loathing that we are unable to ‘do it right’. I prefer to tell clients what they are doing well at, and where there are areas for improvement. I want clients to feel they are making improvements and learning how the food changes are improving their health rather than telling them they are wrong. Eating healthier is not really about right or wrong foods, it is more about learning how you feel based on the food selections or combinations or timing of meals you make. Maybe you eat endlessly after dinner and feel like a bottomless pit. This can be addressed by adding a balanced snack in the mid-afternoon so you are not starving upon arriving home.
Can it be made better? Probably. Can everyone learn how to eat healthier? Absolutely! Does everyone want to eat better? Maybe. But creating a list of right or wrong foods just creates negativity in my eyes. And food, eating, the dining experience should all be positive. There should be no guilt in eating….even if you did eat a whole bag of Cadbury mini eggs cause they were on sale after Easter! If you really enjoyed them…..who cares?
I had a client a few years back, a cyclist, who could not get to his race weight no matter how he tried. We balanced the blood sugar….it helped a bit. But he was still eating like there was no end in sight. He would eat his daughters cookies….and feel so guilty about eating them all. They were her cookies, not his! We were able to find that wheat was the trigger to his endless eating and guilt. Once we worked on alternatives (and how to eat at races, too where bagels are plentiful but his trigger food to constant eating until he went to bed), his issues all went away within about a week. And so did the guilt. I don’t recall a single time in the time I was working with him that I ever mentioned that ‘wheat is bad’ or ‘wheat is wrong’. We just focused on trying different options, making the connection of wheat to the symptom and the client made progress (and reached his goal weight easily).
We have so much guilt linked to eating as it is. Adding a label of right or wrong foods takes away from the enjoyment. When I work with clients, I help them create better meals. I help them create meal plans. I help them create the connection between the foods they are consuming and the symptoms they have (PMS, GI distress, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, brain fog, fatigue, muscle cramps, pain, poor recovery, frequent injuries, etc). I help them find foods that make them feel better. I help them make adjustments to meals with them, so they feel like they have a partner in their process, not a drill sergeant! I help them make the decision of what makes them feel better or worse….then ultimately it is they who decide whether a food that triggers pain or symptoms is worth eating or in what quantity.
So ditch the labels of right or wrong. And adopt the “I feel better or worse” concept instead. It will help to alleviate another layer of negativity in your life. And if you struggle with this concept, then maybe a Path To Heal session would be helpful to identify and energetically clear the subconscious trigger to feeling guilty or wrong. We just want to make it better! With nutrition and energetic healing!
Joanna Chodorowska, BA, NC, TPTH is a multidimensional healer. She combines her expertise in nutrition coaching with her intuitive healing abilities to provide each client exactly what they need to be more healthy. She starts with where you are, making small modifications you can incorporate easily, making gradual life changes. She is non-threatening and has oodles of recipes and ideas that are easy, practical, tasty and use real food ingredients. Joanna specializes in sports nutrition and gastrointestinal issues.
To schedule your nutrition healing or energy healing sessions, please contact Joanna at 215-272-6774, or visit her website for more details about her programs.