Can I Eat That? How to Break Out of The Virtue Trap

I’m a Nutrition Professional, not a Food Saint. Although it’s probably frowned upon in my field, I eat white rice—and I like it! White pasta, buttered sourdough bread. I also eat every vegetable, sushi, pasta, love avocados. For decades, I’ve been practicing what I teach: eat when hungry, eat exactly what you want, stop when just comfortable, and move on.

When I was a “Professional Dieter,” I ate green salads, of course dressing on the side, dry grilled chicken breast, scarcely a carb. Sure, I smiled bravely, but eating this way made me feel grumpy, anxious and constantly craving. I was caught in the Virtue Trap—trying to be sooooo good, which only made me binge soooooo bad. And I felt bad, too

Truthfully, challenging our conditioning around food takes time, courage—and a pocket calculator.

Pretend for a moment, that all food was neutral, neither good nor bad. And when you felt hungry, you responded to your body, rather than to your fears, and ate the food you truly wanted. Let’s say you desired a cookie, but felt the virtuous choice was an orange. Get out the calculator. Do the math. Pretend you’re spending money. Say the orange costs $100 and the cookie also costs $100. Forget virtue—and set aside fear. Which food appeals to you more? Which, after eating it, will hit the spot and send you on your way happy and content?

The ironic thing about allowing yourself to choose, is that most of the time, you will choose the more nutritious food. But if you sometimes choose the higher fat, lower nutrition item, so what? Knowing we CAN have all foods makes them LESS tempting, removes the likelihood that we’ll “go wild” when we finally say yes.

The Voice of Virtue is Fear Mind. It carries on, yapping in your head, making big sensations in your body. You might feel like, if I eat this cookie it’s all over, it’s all ruined.

BIG FAT LIE!

The first time I chose a chocolate chip cookie over an apple, my fearful, virtuous mind hissed—don’t you dare. You’ll blow up.

Instead of feeling afraid, I heard laughter in my head. From one cookie? Taking a tiny mouse bite out of the yummy sweet, I felt happy in my body. I took another bite. Then another. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

My mind might have been yapping but I didn’t hear it. I ate the whole cookie. Nothing happened. I felt outrageous, courageous, trusting in ME.

Last word: Food is not good or bad; it simply works or does not work FOR YOU! Lighten up. Let go of the rules. Laugh out loud and exit the virtue trap.

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