Food is neither good or bad, but we as a society have assigned moral values to food. So what happens is that when you eat a food you believe is “bad”, then you consciously and unconsciously see yourself as a bad person for eating that food?

Yes, there is scientific research that states that specific foods are “good” for you and other kinds of foods are “bad” for you. However, I invite you to be a FOOD SCIENTIST and rather than seeing things as good or bad, ask yourself “Does this food serve me or not?”

The best educator if a food is going to serve you or not is YOURSELF and YOUR BODY!

To decide “if a food serves you or not”, ask yourself the following questions before you eat the food (as a baseline), after you eat the food, 2 hours after you eat it, and the next morning:

How are my energy levels? Low, moderate, high?
How is my mental clarity? Do I have brain fog or am I able to focus and concentrate? Is my mental clarity sharp?
How is my mood? Irritable? Stable? Angry? (note: Not the same as how I am feeling about eating that food, because your answer will always be guilt).
How is my digestive health? Bloated? Clear? Constipated?
How did I sleep last night?

Track these questions every time you eat your “forbidden food”, to see if there are actually negative effects on your inner health. Do not focus so much on what you “think” and “know” about the food due to what you have learned about it from outside resources. Be a Food Scientist and use yourself as the subject.

You may be surprised to learn that what you thought was “bad” for you, may actually not have any negative impact on you OR it may confirm that it does! Ultimately, this is how to start to neutralize food, and stop seeing foods as good or bad.

Food is just food. You can change your story.

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Rosalyn Fung is founder of her company Holistic Body Love and a Registered Psychologist in Alberta, Canada. She is also a Food and Body Image mentor to many around the world, and a consultant to professionals in the fitness industry. Rosalyn has personal experience with disordered eating, which is what fuels her passion to empower others in their relationship with food, body image weight and health concerns.