By Laura Shammah, MS, RDN
WE HEAR IT EVERYWHERE. CUT OUT SUGAR. AVOID CARBS. DON’T EAT PROCESSED FOODS. BUY ORGANIC. EAT CLEAN. DON’T EAT AFTER A CERTAIN TIME. TRACK YOUR PROTEIN. COUNT YOUR STEPS. ON THEIR OWN, SOME OF THESE CHOICES MAY SOUND HEALTHY. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TRYING TO BE HEALTHY STARTS TAKING OVER YOUR LIFE?
As a dietitian who specializes in eating disorders and helping people build a healthier relationship with food, I often see people who aren’t necessarily trying to lose weight. They genuinely believe they are just trying to be healthy.
But slowly, their list of acceptable foods gets smaller. They stop eating certain carbohydrates. Then sugar. Then foods with ingredients they don’t recognize. They become anxious at restaurants because they don’t know exactly what is in the food. They bring their own food everywhere. They decline invitations because they can’t control what will be served.
At some point, healthy eating stops making you healthier. There is even a term for an unhealthy obsession with eating only foods considered healthy or “clean.” It is called orthorexia.
Nutrition is important. What we eat absolutely affects our health. But health is much bigger than the nutritional content of a meal. For the body to truly be healthy, the mind needs to be healthy too.
Being healthy also means being able to go to dinner with friends. It is enjoying your child’s birthday cake without calculating how long you need to exercise afterward. It is going on vacation without packing an entire suitcase of “safe” foods. It is eating something simply because you enjoy it.
One question I often encourage people to ask themselves is this. Am I making this choice because I want to take care of my body, or because I am afraid of what will happen if I don’t? The difference matters.
A healthy relationship with food includes flexibility. Most of the time, build your meals around vegetables, protein, fat and carbohydrates. Choose foods that nourish you and help you feel good, but leave room for everything else too.
A cookie doesn’t cancel out the vegetables you ate at lunch. Pizza doesn’t erase your workout. A Shabbat of eating differently doesn’t undo months of taking care of yourself. Your body doesn’t need perfection. It needs consistency, and your mind needs flexibility. If eating “perfectly” is creating fear, guilt or anxiety, it is no longer supporting your overall health.
This is especially important for parents. Our children are listening to the way we talk about food. When they constantly hear foods described as “bad,” “fattening,” “toxic” or something we have to “burn off,” they learn that eating is something to fear. Instead, let them see that taking care of yourself includes both nourishment and enjoyment.
Healthy eating should add to your life, not take away from it. If your eating rules are making you anxious, interfering with your social life or making you afraid to eat foods you once enjoyed, becoming stricter isn’t the answer. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is loosen the rules and remember that a healthy body starts with a healthy mind.
Laura Shammah, MS, RDN, specializes in eating disorders and works with a wide range of clients, including those managing PCOS, infertility, hypertension, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, and cancer. She also supports clients training for marathons, pregnant women, and individuals seeking to lose or gain weight in a healthy way.
