I used to tell clients not to label their foods as “good” or “bad.” I used to tell them that I didn’t want them to label what they eat because of how it would affect their mentality: This is too restrictive. This is an unreasonable diet. I am a failure if I eat something “bad”. I only want to eat the “bad” foods, which now makes me bad.

But truthfully, it wasn’t working.

While a client and I might not have specifically labeled foods, we were doing it anyway during our calls by talking about the health benefits of various foods. So they were labeled in one way or another. While working towards your health goals, you are going to be subconsciously cutting out certain foods in some way; why not just bring it out to the open?

I want you to label your foods as good or bad. You do not have to use those specific terms, but I want you to put a title on the foods you know are good for you and will help you reach your goals versus the foods that you know will leave you feeling depressed, lethargic, or set you back from the life you truly want.

Some titles besides “good” and “bad” you could use include: Goals / Non-Goals, Progress / Setback, Healthy / Unhealthy, Positive / Negative, Unlimited / Limited, Wellness / Sickness, Energy / Lethargy, Happy / Depressed

Before you reach for the items in your “bad” column, stop and think through three questions:

• Is this healthy?
• Is this helping me reach my goals?
• How will this food make me feel?

Just pausing to think about what you are eating, and what it will do for you, can work wonders to your health. It means you are taking an active role in your goals. You are making a conscious decision to eat well because you know what you do and do not want for yourself.

Now, I don’t want you to have foods that are off limits no matter what, because life happens and sometimes that slice of Grandma’s apple pie is exactly what you need. But I do want you to have foods that you eat in extremely limited quantities because they are on your negative list.

Spend some time creating your food lists, or at the very least determining which food labels you want to use. Once you have those titles clear in your head, I promise you will start making better choices for your health.

One focus of the Group Health Coaching program starting on April 17, is for you to analyze your food lists in much greater detail and create easy, actionable, and better options to align with your goals. Please register before April 10 when the price increases! There are only 5 spots left!

You can register by clicking here, or on the image below.

RQ: Do you label your foods in some way? Why or why not?

Brooke Selb

I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.