Why Trying to Be Perfect Actually Hurts Your Weight Loss Efforts
Many health seekers tend to think of food in absolute, black and white terms: this food is good, this is bad. While the pursuit of excellence can be a virtue, this all-or-nothing approach creates harmful relationships with food and can actually be counterproductive.
This black-and-white thinking includes notions of “being bad,” cheat meals, “bad” foods that are not allowed to eat, and often arbitrary, unreasonable rules (such as not eating carbs after 8:00 pm) designed to help people stick to the principles. losing weight. effort, at least initially.
However, this study, published in the Journal of Health Psychology , clearly states:
The results showed that food-related dichotomous thinking (dichotomous beliefs about food and eating) mediates the relationship between food restriction and weight recovery. We concluded that dichotomous beliefs about food and eating may be associated with severe dietary restrictions, which in turn interfere with people’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.
In essence, this can be interpreted to mean that you can strive for excellence in your diet, but know that it is impossible to achieve excellence. And that’s okay.
Remember that food is meant to nourish life and for many souls, not to take it as an enemy. Avoid dichotomous notions of food – no food – good or bad – and thrive.
How is black and white thinking related to eating behavior and weight gain? | Journal of Health Psychology