It's OK to Eat Ice Cream in Bed—And Hate Exercise
/I find it so helpful to remember that, despite what diet and wellness cultures want you to believe, it’s completely okay to…
Eat when you’re sad, stressed, lonely or bored
Crave something sweet after a meal
Get seconds
Dislike cooking
Eat while watching TV
Enjoy bread
Use food to help you focus
Eat cheese and crackers for dinner
Hate exercising
Clean your plate
Eat chips straight from the bag
Snack late at night
Buy processed foods
Eat freely on days you don’t work out
Go for dessert first
Turn to food for comfort
Eat ice cream in bed
Unnecessary Suffering
Like most of us, diet and wellness cultures have likely made you believe you’re being bad, naughty or unhealthy if you don’t adhere to their constantly changing and often contradictory food and exercise rules.
As a result, you may experience a lot of anxiety, guilt or shame when you don’t do the “right” thing. I certainly used to!
My food and exercise “sins” would often keep me awake at night as I fretted over how I messed up and how I would make up for it the next day.
A big part of Intuitive Eating is about identifying and challenging all the unhelpful rules and beliefs that cause you so much unnecessary suffering and prevent you from having a flexible, comfortable, satisfying and peaceful relationship with food and movement.
I encourage you to pause and reflect on what some of your rules are. Most of us have a pretty long list!
It’s such a relief when you fully believe you’re not doing anything wrong, a bad person or morally inferior if you snack when you’re stressed, skip your workout or eat ice cream in bed.