Why do I feel Guilty After Eating (And How To Stop)

Is guilt your constant eating companion? It was for me, too. 

I was so caught up in every single bite of food that I ate and never seemed to eat well enough to stop wondering to myself, “why do I feel guilty after eating?”.

For 6 solid years, I couldn’t stop beating myself up for eating something “unhealthy.” I had such strong feelings of food guilt that I would still be thinking about the Reese’s cup I ate DAYS later. 

At the time, I was motivated by crushing perfectionism and for any sense of control in a time when my life felt very out of control. Spoiler alert: the food guilt didn’t accomplish anything but making me feel worse. 

Today, things are really different and so much better. 

I want the same for you: eating without guilt. 

Today I am going to tell you a bit about my own journey as well as provide you with concrete steps so that you can enjoy the same food freedom that I do, today. 

Gorgeous, you deserve to eat without guilt, fear or shame. 

Where does guilt come from?

Guilt forms from a sense of breaking the rules. And if you have perfectionism expectations around eating, there are many opportunities for you to break those rules and then heap on the guilt. 

I understand how these rules might come from a genuine place of trying to do well: being healthy is a great part of taking care of the body that you live in. But having food rules, and unrealistic expectations of how you should (and shouldn’t) eat is not allowing yourself to have a peaceful relationship with food and eating, nor does it make room for joy and comfort with eating. 

Guilt is a habit. It is a learned behavior. And you know what? You can unlearn it, too! 

We aren’t born with preconceived notions that chocolate is “bad” or that you’re a terrible person if you eat chips. Those BS ideas are diet culture tearing you down, not healthy behaviors promoting your best life. 

(Have you heard of diet culture before? Check out this post if the term is new to you: What is Diet Culture (And Should I Kick it to the Curb?)

But if you’ve been “practicing” those rules, but beating yourself up, each time you break those impossible rules…and then heaping on the guilt, it is going to take practice to rewire your brain. Baby steps add up!

Maybe you’re not sure if you have food rules? Chances are, you do. Check out this post: How To Identify & Break Food Rules. Gotta know what the food rules are in order to truly see them and let ‘em go. 

Letting go of food rules is very important for overcoming food guilt. You can’t break rules if you don’t know ‘em!

Overcoming Food Guilt

Once you know what your food rules are, the next step towards ending the feelings of guilt and shame after eating is to allow yourself to eat the foods you’re feeling guilty about. Give yourself permission! 

And gosh, I know that this can be very difficult, especially at first. That’s okay, Gorgeous – you can do hard things. 

A lot of times just the thought that a food is “bad” or “unhealthy” will cause those guilty feelings to seep in.

We get more comfortable with this with practice. It is also best to not try to tackle every hard food at once. I recommend working through the foods you’re beating yourself up about, one at a time. 

Pick ONE food to start with. Maybe it’s bread, chips, or chocolate. I also recommend that you start with a food you feel will be easier instead of the one you think will be super tough. 

Just like when you learned to ride your bike, you might have started with training wheels; you can tackle these new skills of eating without guilt with practice and helpful tools. This is something we really work on in The SociEATy which I’ll tell you more about at the end of this post to support you and your progress with Intuitive Eating!

In the meantime, remember that while eating these foods, it is important to stay present. Don’t tune out with the TV, social media, or talking on the phone. Sit comfortably, eat slowly (don’t inhale it to hurry up and hide it away!) and enjoy the experience. 

Ask yourself: how does it taste? Is the 5th bite as tasty as the first? How would I describe this food to someone who has never eaten it before? 

This is the method that I teach to SociEATy members and it allows them to gain motivation, momentum and minimizes that “Oh my gosh this is SO hard!” feeling that only makes you want to go back to your comfort zone of your food rules.

P.S. If you want to learn more about my unique, No Food Rules approach to food freedom you can download my free e-book, The Ultimate 5-Step Guide To Food Freedom, which will walk you through the exact steps I took to overcome disordered eating and now use with SociEATy members to help them find total freedom too!

Okay: How can I Stop Feeling Guilty After Eating?

Okay, you’ve allowed yourself to eat the food…but what do you do AFTER? 

I mean, that’s really when it hits you, right? 

The guilt, panic, and anxiety? Your heart rate is up, the shame is creeping in and you might be planning your next intense workout to recover from your food choices. 

Take a deep breath, friend. Here are a few things I recommend that you try to overcome the guilt aftermath in a more constructive way. You deserve to eat meals without guilt. 

Stop labeling foods as “good” and “bad”

Remember how we talked about those food rules? Those are what allow you to label foods as good and bad…and therefore your own self-worth as good and bad based on how you eat. 

An important step to stop feeling guilty after eating is to let those rules go. Food is just food, but it takes practice to believe that. So, if that little voice in your head says “Ugh! That’s SO bad for you!” talk back to it and say “Hey there! Actually it’s not. Some foods nourish our bodies more and some our souls. I can absolutely eat this without guilt!”

In the meantime, reflect on how you’re speaking to yourself. 

Use kind words

Why is it that we let ourselves speak to ourselves so dang meanly? We would never speak to a friend or loved one the way we let our inner voice carry on!  We need to hit the brakes on those mean-spirited tirades!

When talking with yourself, pretend like you’re talking to a treasured friend. Your very favorite human being in the whole wide world. Speak kindly, with patience, and with a growth mindset that things you feel stuck about are changeable. Because they are!

An example? Pretend your inner critic says “My gosh, Gina! You’re so gross for eating that! I bet you’ll need to buy bigger pants.” respond with “Gina, your body doesn’t determine your worth and guilt isn’t an ingredient so no need to add it!”

Mantras and affirmations can help with this. 

Use food mantras and affirmations

We believe what we repeat to ourselves most often. So let’s reframe what your usual thought patterns are with mantras and affirmations that are building you up, instead of causing more food guilt and shame. 

Find a food mantra or affirmation that will be your go-to for when feelings of guilt set in. You want to re-direct your thoughts away from those negative feelings of guilt and guide them to a more positive thought. 

This may feel forced at first and that’s okay, it is! Thinking positive things about food you’ve feared is SO foreign. But it gets easier with time. And, the more you do this, the more your brain will say “Ooooh, so I DON’T need to feel guilty?! Cool, I’ll just start thinking these things she keeps telling me to.” BOOM. 

You’re literally re-wiring your brain AWAY from guilt. How amazing is that?

I have a list of my top 10 intuitive eating affirmations that you can get some inspo from or take a look at my Pinterest account for loads more!

Occupy your mind elsewhere

Once you’re done eating a food that usually makes you feel guilty, find something else to do to occupy your time and mind. 

For instance, if you ate a cookie and know that usually, it will make you feel anxiety have something planned to do like calling a friend, writing in your journal, doodling in an adult coloring book (here is a good adult coloring book for under $7!) flipping through a magazine, watching your fave Netflix episode, or going on a walk. 

I mean the possibilities are endless, girlfriend! Bottom line, fill your time so there is less energy available to stew on the guilt. 

Over time, just like with the food mantras and affirmations, your brain will learn there are better things to use its energy for after eating besides guilt and it will start to do that automatically.

Use your words

One helpful phrase to remember with Intuitive Eating is “for the most part.” 

No one, not even an intuitive eating dietitian, should have the expectation of eating perfectly all day long. I enjoy sweets and treats and deserve to eat them, too. 

Part of my own healing from binge eating was the ability to analyze my eating with a wider lens. Rather than obsessing about each meal or each bite, I started to notice patterns over the whole week. While I love and enjoy fruits and veggies (Gentle nutrition is important), so too are the treats that make our spirit feel good and offer a morale boost or a chance to celebrate. 

Do I feel focused, strong, and good physically when I eat healthy foods? Yup! I eat well, for the most part, and for me, that includes sweet and salty treats in the mix. Yum!

Check-in with your physical body

Each time you eat is an opportunity to learn. If you ate past fullness – learn from it! Pretend that you’re a detective on the case, not a mean old judge in the courtroom. 

“So, it seems Waston, when I ate that amount or that speed, my body didn’t feel all that great. I like feeling good, so next time I eat this food, I’ll try to tune into my body’s fullness cues a bit sooner so that I don’t end up feeling this way again.”

See? We’re just analyzing data, not turning the information into a shame fest. 

Still Feeling Food Guilt? Talk It Out

If you’ve done everything mentioned above and you’re STILL feeling guilty I highly recommend talking it out. Have someone that you can work through this with instead of internalizing it and letting the guilt stew in your brain. 

Get those thoughts OUT of your head, girlfriend! 

The women in  The SociEATy have a private Facebook group that they can turn to in times like this. A safe place where they can get their thoughts out of their head and get support and guidance from other women who understand, like myself and the other ladies in the program. 

Sometimes just knowing that you’re not alone can be SO helpful and really make you realize how silly these fears about food we have are! This will allow you to move past the feelings of food guilt and get on with your life! And that’s the whole goal, right?! So take a second right now and identify who you can go chat it out with.

Key Takeaways: why do I feel guilty after eating?

Even with all of these fab tips, I do want to be totally honest with you: feeling guilty after eating doesn’t just magically go away. 

It takes time and a consistent effort of implementing these tips to truly have that food guilt stay away. So take these tips and keep at it, Gorgeous. Re-training our brains to not view food as good or bad takes time! But that payoff is SO freaking worth it! You’ve got this!

Leave a comment with which food you’re going to start with to really work on to stop feeling guilty after eating! Can’t wait to read them and support you!

XOXO

-Colleen

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