The Only 3 Healthy Eating 'Rules' This Registered Dietitian Lives By

SELFCares Newsletter, September 12th, 2018 SELFCares About... Letting Go of Rules [Why Fear of 'Sugar Addiction' May Be More Toxic Than Sugar Is]( If you are unable to see the message below, [click here to view.]( [SELF Cares]( [people sitting at a dinner table] [apple] This week, we're talking about... Letting Go of Rules The thing about me is, I love rules. I love a routine. I love a structure. If I'm in a situation where structure doesn't exist, I will create one. What can I say? Rules and structure and organization might feel rigid or stifling to some people, but to me, the more I can plan something out, the more relaxed I feel. But as much as I love a sweet rule set to hold me together, there's one important caveat—the rules I make have to come from me and they have to make my life better, make me feel more relaxed, freer. If my rules are making my world smaller, my options fewer, or putting my pleasure behind a paywall of things I have to do to "earn" it, I need to pump the brakes and reverse course. The longer I read, write, and edit content about nutrition, health, and wellness, the more I notice that the food rules lots of us follow (sometimes without even thinking about them or realizing we're following them) have actually been imported from a diet culture that prioritizes thinness and normative beauty standards above all else—including, mind-glowingly, our mental health and happiness. Even though diet and wellness culture would have us believe otherwise, rules around food, nutrition, and eating tend to create more problems than they can ever solve. And to be clear: I'm not talking about the rules and structure people choose to put in place for themselves for their own mental health or eating disorder recovery. I'm talking about those generic rules you've seen around mainstream media that don't take into account an individual person's needs and desires. Rules such as you should never eat after a certain hour in the evening, or you should have several small meals a day, or never ever snack, or you should count calories or carbs, or that there's a "correct" amount of food to eat at a given time—the list goes on and on. I'm not here to tell you how to live—for all I know food rules actually liberate you the way planning liberates me. Or maybe you've found that following some rules actually helps ensure that you eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. What I'm here to say is that if your rules are made by anyone but you for any reason other than you are a person who deserves to feel nourishment, satisfaction, and joy, then I'd recommend taking another look at your rules. If you find that they come from a diet industry that values thin bodies more than fat bodies or conflates "self-control" with a virtue that makes you a better person, I say ditch 'em. Here's a pile of stories that help me wrap my mind around the rules we all follow even though we didn't make them up. [Sally Tamarkin, Food and Fitness Director] [toxic bottles]( [Yvette d'Entremont, Scibabe Explains] [Don't Buy Into Toxic 'Toxin-Free' Marketing]( There's a lot more to so-called toxins than meets the eye. This story is a great primer for how to understand the "toxin-free" hype and, trust me, reading this will give you one less food thing to worry about! [Learn More]( Advertisement [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [AdChoices]( [lemon tart dessert]( [Stop Obsessing Over Clean Eating—'Healthy Enough' Is All You Need]( On my long and ever-growing list of diets and diet trends that make me very angry and very sad, "clean eating" has pride of place as being an enduring #1. Why? Because it has a value system built into it. If you do it, you're clean, if you don't, you're dirty. I don't like thinking in binaries like that and I don't like eating in binaries like that either. Here, an R.D. breaks down why we need to let go "clean eating" ASAP. [Read more]( [author Hannah Howard]( [My Friends Realized I Had an Eating Disorder Before I Did]( This poignant essay is part of a memoir and describes what it's like when food rules take over your thinking and interfere with life stuff like friendships and travel. [Read the story]( [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [AdChoices]( [a block of butter]( [Here's What You Should Know Before Going on the Keto Diet]( Keto is having its moment in the sun as diet du jour. It's another set of rules to follow whose adherents promises weight loss and optimal health, among other things. But before jumping on the high-fat, very low-carb bandwagon, I recommend learning more about it. [Learn about it]( [sugar cubes]( [Why Fear of 'Sugar Addiction' May Be More Toxic Than Sugar Is]( I love this take by a registered dietitian who explains the hype around how "bad" sugar is debunks the idea that it's addictive or toxic. She also explains how in her professional opinion, how our fear of added sugar is way less healthy than sugar itself. [Read more]( [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [AdChoices]( [I'm a Registered Dietitian and These Are the Only 3 Healthy Eating 'Rules' I Live By]( In this article, one of my favorite experts of all time, registered dietitian Wendy Lopez, explains why non-rules are the only rules to have when it comes to food and eating. And she throws in some of her best tips, too. [Check it out]( [mac and cheese with a side salad]( Sharing Is Caring! Forward this newsletter to your friends! Got this from a friend? 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