36 LISTENER OCTOBER 13 2018
THIS LIFE
GETTY IMAGESLighten up
Being flexible about “good”
vs “bad” food can help
with healthy-eating goals.
I
t’s the kitchen-witching hour ... after dinner,
the kids are in bed, she’s prowling through
the cupboards searching for the perfect Net-
flix-viewing snack. She’s craving chocolate
but it’s not “healthy”, so instead she grabs
some nuts, they’re “healthy”, then a piece
of fruit, then just one biscuit – not quite so
healthy but surely not as “bad” as the chocolate she
really wants.
By the time the Netflix session is over, she’s eaten
several more biscuits and a pile of popcorn, before
caving in and eating the chocolate. And, after scoff-
ing a few squares, racked with guilt, she decides to
eat the whole bar – best to get rid of it, so she won’t
be tempted by chocolate again tomorrow.
Prowling the kitchen, eating foods we don’t
want, while circling the real object of our desire is
a common problem for many dieters – not because
we want chocolate (or cookies, or crisps), but
because we see it as a problem and make it into a
bigger issue.
By the time we’ve completed a full stocktake of
the kitchen pantry – eating everything we deem
“healthy” in our quest to avoid the “wrong” snack
choice – we can eat two or three times
as much as we would have if we’d
just cut to the chase and eaten the
chocolate in the first place.
“But chocolate isn’t a ‘healthy’
food,” your brain screams.
“Chocolate is bad – you
shouldn’t eat it!”
In reality there is no such
thing as a “good” or “bad”
food, not least because no
single food, snack or meal
defines your entire relation-
ship with food or eating. This
type of black-and-white thinking- an apple is good,
chocolate is bad – has
been linked to a greater
likelihood of failing to
stick with healthy-eating
goals long term.
Case in point: Dutch researchers
measured the relationship between
black-and-white thinking, eating
behaviours and weight status among
241 adults, asking them how strongly
they agreed with statements such as,by Jennifer Bowden
NUTRITION