Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Guilt Free and other damaging phrases

I might have written about this before but I'm not going to take the time to go back thru all the posts to find out. If it sounds familiar, forgive me and move on.
In the last week I've read a few blog posts about "guilt free" desserts and "guilt free" BBQ options for July 4th. Really? I should be guilty if I eat something that tastes good on a holiday?
Sure. I understand. A 500 calorie slice of cheesecake is probably not a good idea if I'm eating it nightly while lounging on the couch, remote in hand, after a dinner of ribs, fries and soda. But it's the 4th of July, folks. A day to celebrate. Not a day to worry about guilt.
A burger. Maybe some potato salad made with real mayonnaise. Pie topped with ice cream for dessert. Just on Monday. For the holiday. And not a turkey or veggie burger on a whole wheat bun accompanied by potato salad made with fat free yogurt and a plate of fresh berries (delicious though they might be) topped with fat free yogurt mixed with vanilla and Splenda.
You can have that food on Tuesday, July 5th.
Implying that eating something "fattening" should fill me with guilt is a pretty sick idea. Eating shouldn't make a person feel guilty--regardless of what or how much they've eaten or where or how they've eaten it.
Guilt is for murder, rape and other violence against people and animals. Remorse. But not for eating something that perhaps is forbidden on your "diet".
I know. Articles like that grab your attention. You're thinking--I can have my cake and eat it, too. Yes, you can. You can have your "real" cake. Not your ersatz cake. Just this one time. Go for it. Enjoy it. Savor it. Because on Monday you're going to have to go back to deprivation.
End of rant.

1 comment:

CarrieMarie said...

randomly happened on this post & had to say PREACH! everyone is so big on having good body image & everything - and then we're sabotaged by phrases like that. way to shed light and keep up the good work!

carrie