I talk a lot about how we should be talking about food and nutrition. I don’t typically like using the word ‘should’ but I feel like there truly is a way we should be talking about food. Because I’ve seen all the alternative ways cause too much damage to the people I care about most – my clients.
I also talk a fair amount about how to get out of a dieting mindset. Getting out of a dieting mindset is absolutely essential if you really want to make strides with your nutrition and relationship to food. Eliminating a scarcity mentality (restriction, elimination, avoidance) and adopting an abundance mentality (access to all foods, all foods fit, all foods are on the table) is essential to your growth.
So, let’s talk about reframing and why that’s so important. I’m going to revisit the word ‘should’ now.
Replace “I should/shouldn’t ___” with “I am going to ___ because __.”
Here is an example:
Reframe “I shouldn’t eat past 8 pm” to: “I am going to have a snack even though it’s a bit later because I am hungry and don’t want to go to bed with my stomach growling.”
OR how about this one: “I should do fasted cardio to burn more fat” to: “I am going to have a quick snack about 30 minutes before I do my workout because I perform better when I have more energy.”
See, when we use words like should or shouldn’t, we are in a limiting mindset. These lead to self-imposed rules we follow and then stress about them when we don’t follow them. Get rid of the should and shouldn’ts!
Allowing yourself a minute to explain or justify your decision doesn’t have to be a negative (like, we don’t always have to answer to ourselves) and it can help us form better trust with our minds and bodies.