One study showed that nearly a third of all the food Americans eat makes them feel guilty. You also spend approximately 20 minutes five times a week with that guilt. That time feeling guilty can really add up. 

Food guilt doesn’t have to be part of your food relationship.

It’s very normal to feel guilty about food choices. People say all the time that they were “bad” for eating certain things, which implies an expectation of guilt. There’s no food choice you could make that means you’re bad. You’re doing your best in any given situation.

You should expect that environmental situations or stressors will have an impact on your food choices. And it’s normal that emotions will come into play at times. Food situations outside of your control are part of life. When you’re able to accept this ebb and flow, you’ll be better able to release the guilt when it shows up. When your eating plan is balanced, that allows for a variety of different foods in your eating plan. It also allows for food experiences that prioritize celebration, culture, and tradition.

5 ways to begin to work through food guilt:

1. Acknowledge and stay curious about when food guilt comes up for you.

Awareness is so key. Building awareness around the habitual experiences you have with food and your body is a big part of the work I do with dancers in one-on-one coaching. The awareness and curiosity is part of what can help you undo those food habits when necessary. 

It’s possible you made an impulsive decision and then passed judgment on it after. In that situation, it might not be that the food was so bad but it wasn’t exactly what or when you planned or expected to eat. 

Whenever the feelings of guilt come up, just acknowledge them. Then, get curious. Before you get into a guilt-shame spiral, ask: “Why do I feel guilty about eating this?”

2. Ask yourself why eating that certain food makes you feel guilty.

The guilt could stem from childhood experiences or your family’s approach to food. Or, it could come from societal pressure or diet-driven messages in the media or on social media. Once you identify where the guilt is coming from, you’ll be able to start letting go of or delete or unfollow those influences.

If family or friends have something to do with the guilt you experience around food, you might have to initiate some challenging but very honest conversations around it. If you’re not ready for that, you might work to tune out those influences when they’re talking about food or dieting. You might need to just walk away or change the subject.

3. Think about the value of the foods that induce guilt.

A lot of the time the foods that make us feel guilty have been labeled as “junk” or “bad.” This is naturally going to lead to guilt. In order to shift the way you experience those foods, you have to change the value you attribute to them. What’s “good” about those foods?

Here are some examples:

• Chocolate cake: tastes great, makes me feel happy
• Gingerbread: reminds me of Christmas at my grandma’s house
• French fries: delicious and make me think of McDonald’s trips with my family as a kid

4. Slow down and consider your food relationship.

This can be quite hard as dancers because you have busy schedules. So often your meal and snack breaks are short and limited. There will be times when you have to eat more quickly in order to fuel your body adequately. When you do have more space and time to be intentional and eat slowly, practice that skill.

Beyond a more mindful approach to food, embrace the fact that you have the power to change the way you view yourself and your life. It might take some intentional rewrites in order to accomplish a big shift. To rewrite your body story, start here. If you’re ready to rewrite the story of certain foods and food experiences, craft a vision for your relationship to food.

Create intentional experiences with the foods you experience guilt with. Plan to get ice cream with friends and set the intention of having fun. Bake some brownies with your mom and set the intention of having a carefree experience.

5. Decide what “balance” with guilt-inducing foods can look like for you.

Are you someone who enjoys something sweet every night after dinner? Do you love chocolate or ice cream? Those preferences don’t mean something is wrong with you or you lack self-control. They’re worth honoring and asking yourself, “What’s a balanced approach to these desires?”

You might want a scoop of ice cream every night or you might prefer a trip to the ice cream shop for a hot fudge sundae on the weekend. Your preferences and balance can also shift from week to week. Just start to lean into it so you can discover what’s balanced for you.

It is a process to cultivate a more balanced relationship with food, but it is possible. Working through food guilt is a key part of that process because very often, on the other side of food guilt is restriction or attempts at dieting. 

Want some support to start working through food guilt and finding a more easygoing approach to food and your body for dance? Let’s have a chat! Set up your complimentary coaching call here.

The post 5 Ways Dancers Can Work Through Food Guilt appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

“The most important meal of the day.” 

“Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of your milk.”

Michael Pollan

“It is more important to eat some carbohydrates at breakfast, because the brain needs fuel right away, and carbohydrate is the best source.”    

Andrew Weil

“Breakfast is everything. The beginning, the first thing. It is the mouthful that is the commitment to a new day, a continuing life. ”    

A A Gill

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with hundreds of dancers through group/online programs and one-on-one coaching. There are certainly some common threads when it comes to food habits, and the neglect of breakfast is one of them.

The habits I see among so many dancers don’t surprise me because I’ve been there. I had many of the same tendencies before coming to a peaceful place with food and my body.

Here are the common breakfast threads:

• The meal is too small.
• It’s too “good” or “clean.”
• It’s lacking healthy fat and/or enough protein.
• There are no fruit or vegetables.
• It’s too rushed or on-the-go.

You might look at some of those breakfast habits and think it sounds like you. Maybe you don’t see why these common practices might cause an issue. So, I’m going to break it down. If any questions come up as you’re taking this in, or you’re unsure of whether your breakfast falls into this category, reach out or comment below.

The meal is too small

Sample Meal #1: A hard boiled egg and a piece of toast (whole wheat, sourdough, whatever).

Sample Meal #2: Rice Krispies and skim milk.

When your first meal is too small, it often means you’re trying to be “good” by eating less. The trouble here is that even if you keep up the undereating later in the day because you think eating less is going to get you to your body goals, you’ll likely end up binging. Even if you don’t binge or overeat that same day, it will likely catch up with you at some point — later that week, month, or year.

If the issue is that you’re not hungry in the morning, you’re most likely eating dinner/dessert/snacks too late at night or eating too much at night. You need to consciously make the switch — add more to your breakfast, lunch, and snacks earlier in the day, and you’ll be satisfied with a lighter dinner and wake up hungry.

Here are some tweaks to the sample meals to make them heartier and more satisfying. 

For Sample Meal #1 (egg + toast), add in one or all of the following: 1/4–1/2 avocado, sautéed kale, spinach or other greens,  berries or other fruit, , breakfast potatoes, or top your toast with coconut oil or grass-fed butter or ghee.

For Sample Meal #2: switch to a higher fiber/protein cereal like Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes or Multibran Flakes. Try a fuller fat milk or milk alternative — pay attention to how each makes you feel. Add some berries or a banana, nuts, and/or nut butter.

It’s too “good” or “clean”

Sample Meal #1: Green smoothie made with spinach, unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 a banana, 1/4 cup berries.

Sample Meal #2: Egg whites with sautéed spinach and onions.

Clean eating is all the rage; check out some thoughts I shared with Dance Spirit Magazine on “clean eating” here. But, is it the way to go all the time? Probably not. Mostly because it’s usually too rigid.

The biggest issue with “clean eating” is that the meal often consists of what you think you should be eating, ignoring any hint of what you and your body actually want or need. If you wake up in the morning craving eggs or a tofu scramble, but you think the better choice is a green smoothie, you’ll likely feel unsatisfied.

When you constantly ignore what you truly want and give preference to what you think you should want instead, it’s another recipe for overeating the “bad” foods later on. This is where moderation and a flexible approach can actually be super helpful.

So, the key here is to eat what you truly want! Here are some tweaks to the sample meals that can make them more satisfying and maybe more desirable. 

Sample Meal #1: Add nuts, seeds, or nut butter to this meal. Use a whole banana. Try different milks and milk alternatives to find the one that is most satiating for you.

Sample Meal #2: Use whole eggs instead of egg whites. Add some avocado to your omelet (maybe on top), and enjoy this meal with breakfast potatoes and/or whole grain toast.

It’s lacking healthy fat or enough protein

Sample Meal #1: Quaker Instant Maple Sugar Oatmeal cooked with water.

Sample Meal #2: Low-fat cottage cheese with jelly

As trendy as healthy fats are, many dancer’s still avoid them due to the false notion that eating fat will make you fat. Fat is one of the essential macronutrients supporting everything from helping your body produce certain hormones to giving your body energy.

Protein also plays an essential role (this one is usually more apparent to dancers), as it is needed for building and repairing tissues. Skimping on food overall or cutting back on any macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) makes you more susceptible to injury and amenorrhea.

Here are some improvements that could be made to the sample meals.

Sample Meal #1: Instead of the instant oats, use thick rolled oats or steel cut oats. Both take a bit more time, but you gain nutrition, fiber, and satisfaction. Add some fruit, nuts, and seeds to your oatmeal and cook it with a bit of whole milk or a milk alternative. All of these switches will raise the fat/protein content of the meal and make it more satisfying.

Sample Meal #2: Skip the cottage cheese, and if you do consume dairy, try full-fat greek yogurt (plain/unsweetened). The protein and fat in greek yogurt will be extremely filling; you may find you can’t finish a whole serving. Add some healthy fats in the form of nuts, seeds, or nut butter and some fruit for added fiber and micronutrients. If you don’t do dairy, try full-fat non-dairy yogurt varieties.

There are no fruit or vegetables

Sample Meal #1: A bagel with butter.

Sample Meal #2: Pancakes.

The trouble with classic breakfast foods is that they’re often lacking actual nutrient density. If you just have a bagel or some pancakes for breakfast, you’ll probably feel hungry in just 2–3 hours. This is another time when protein and healthy fat would make a difference in how satisfied you are by your food.For this example though, we’ll focus on the benefit of making fruit and/or vegetables a part of your meal. 

Nutrient deficiencies are often what lead to cravings — your body knows something is missing, so it screams out for different foods. Not always the healthiest options.

By adding in nutrient dense greens to breakfast, you’re providing your body with a whole host of micronutrients you need to be energetic and thriving. When you include fruit, especially colorful, antioxidant-rich berries, you’re again providing high levels of micronutrients that leave you feeling satisfied. The fiber doesn’t hurt either.

Here are some ways to add fruit or vegetables to the sample meals. 

Sample Meal #1: Make your bagel a PB+J bagel using nut butter and crushed raspberries. If you prefer savory, add avocado, egg, and kale for a delicious and filling breakfast sandwich.

Sample Meal #2:  Top your pancakes with some nuts or nut butter, berries and/or banana, and use a whole grain or spelt flour in the batter — added nutrients and satiety!

It’s too rushed or on-the-go

Sample Meal #1: Protein/energy bar

Sample Meal #2: Banana + peanut butter in the car

There’s often craziness in a dancer’s schedule. You might have rehearsals or performances late into the night, then have to get up early for cross-training or to go back to class or school. So, it’s easy to fall into the quick, easy, on-the-go breakfast.

If you do this just occasionally (let’s say 1–2 times/week), then it’s fine. There are days when sleep takes priority, and you’ve got to grab what you can. On those days, commit to making your lunch and dinner more hearty, complete, and nutrient-dense.

Things to look out for for those quick meals.

Sample Meal #1: Choose an energy bar that doesn’t have too much added sugar and has a decent amount of protein and fiber. Here are some of my favorite bars.

Sample Meal #2: Not a terrible choice by any means, but it’s a meal that might not sustain you for a super long time, depending on your activity level that morning. Bring extra snacks so you can eat as hunger arises.

In conclusion

Have you noticed a theme? The most consistent breakfast pattern is that something is lacking, so there are simple additions and fixes that can make a big difference. A good breakfast can set the tone for the day. Under-eating is never the best answer. Reaching body goals is not about deprivation, restriction, or meals that lack satisfaction.

Only through experimentation can you discover what will work best for your personal needs. If you find the experimentation process daunting (as it can be), seek support! That’s what it’s all about here at The Whole Dancer. If you need anything, reach out.

Now it’s time to share! Are you giving your breakfast the attention it deserves? Let me know in the comments.

The post Yes, Breakfast is that important. appeared first on The Whole Dancer.