Let me give you the context of how this question came up.

The other day a friend asked me “What my Guilty Pleasure was?” after pulling out a Diet Dr. Pepper to drink with dinner.

Hi, my name is Candace, and I am a Strength and Nutrition Coach that likes to drink a diet soda, or even a regular soda from time to time, if you don't already know. If you don’t like it or think it’s unhealthy that a Fit Pro drinks soda, that's your problem, not mine. And please spare me of all the hoopla about drinking sodas - diet or regular.

It's a small drop in the bucket. All my BIG ROCKS are always covered consistently.

Here's a study that isn't cherry-picked!

I drink plenty of water - at least a gallon or more a day.  And never ever let perfect be the enemy of good!

Anywhoodle, I simply responded that I do not have any guilty pleasures or foods that I feel guilty or shameful about eating everrrr. I enjoy all the Foods that I LIKE in moderation. I'm super picky about my indulgences; I don't just eat stuff for the sake of it. I quickly get an attitude when I eat stuff that sucks - lol, not worth the calories!

Now, if you have been following me for any length of time, I have talked a bunch about my disordered eating, also known as orthorexia.

If you aren't aware of what orthorexia is - it's an obsession with eating foods that one considers healthy. A medical condition in which the sufferer systematically avoids specific foods in the belief that they are harmful. More here on the topic at hand.

I touted the "Clean Eating" mantra for many, many years - restricting and depriving. If I wasn't eating "clean," I was cheating or binging. Also, eating really restrictively, sticking to 3 - 4 food items, and the guilt and the shame was horrendous.

I have overcome this disordered eating and moved towards a more balanced and sustainable way of eating. It took work - ditching the extremes, the all or nothing, the diets, so on and so forth.

I doubled down on building a better relationship with food. I took the time to figure out what I liked and didn't like food wise – the nutritious and the not so nutritiously foods. I exposed myself to the banned foods that I put off limits for years, until the appeal wore off - now I can take 1-3 bites of things and move on.

It was work, but it was and is so worth it! Furthermore, Guilt and Shame are two words that should never, ever be associated with your food choices.

To close things up:

If you can't trust yourself around food.

If you are restricting food groups, meals, etc. due to overeating at an event, etc.

If you have good and bad food lists.

If you turn your nose up at people for what they eat or don't eat - case in point a soda or a piece of candy, a piece of white bread, etc.

If you think you are better because you can white-knuckle your way through an extreme diet.

If you feel the need to punish yourself with exercise because of eating too much etc.

If you have an unhealthy relationship with exercise - compulsively exercising for fear of getting fat.

If you restrict and binge.

This is not an all-inclusive list. I could list at least 10 more behaviors to the list above.

Then there is a problem, and this is not healthy. Please catch yourself before you are sucked down the vortex even further.

If this was triggering for you in any way, I suggest you unpack this and work through this. If it's really deep, I would suggest seeking help from a medical professional that specializes in eating disorders.

There is no judgment or condemnation here, because I went through this. I just want to bring awareness, and I will continue to do so because I have a passion for helping women ditch the Diet Mentality and build a healthy and sane relationship with ALL Foods and their bodies.

Thank you for allowing to me take up space in your inbox. If anything resonated with you here, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Have a beautiful weekend.

In Strength,

Xo

Candace

P.S. Would you do me a solid and fill out the survey below if you haven't had a chance. TIA :)