There are no good carbs. There are no bad carbs. There are just carbs. I always cringe a little when I hear people refer to food as “good” or “bad”. What if there was just food – some if it more nourishing than others of it at different times and for different purposes. I once watched an Olympic-level triathlete eat bowls of pasta and loaves of bread. Different bodies need different foods at different times for different reasons.
The minute we start thinking of food as good or bad, we set ourselves up for disordered eating. We go to a party and eat a piece of cake …”Oh no bad carbs”. Then we start to look turn it on ourselves – we ate bad food, we must be a bad person. We are a bad person and so we don’t deserve to be treated well, so we start to treat our body badly and then it all goes to hell.
If you don’t feel good about your current eating, instead of letting someone tell you what foods are “good” or “bad”/ “restricted” or “allowed”, what if you took the time to find out what foods make your body feel good and then eat those most of the time? Or find a holistic practitioner (Golda Poretsky for example!). Consider working to gain health instead of lose weight. (By the way, Golda doesn’t compensate me for mentioning her in any way, I just happen to think she’s awesome).
Does it seem likely that living in a cycle of guilt and shame, punishing yourself with food (Well, I had some birthday cake so I might as well stuff myself to the point of discomfort since I’m such a failure. Tomorrow I’m only going to eat lettuce and cottage cheese to make up for it) etc. is going to put you in a place of good physical and mental health?
If you are caught in a cycle of good food/bad food, allowed/restricted, guilt, shame and fear may I suggest that before you change your diet, you first change your mind. Break the cycle. Let it go. Try something else. If you feel better, do more of that. If you feel worse, try something else. Do what makes you, and your body, happy.
Dances With Fat 
Yay! I love starting my day with a few wise words from you. Thank you.
I found your blog through Jezebel and really enjoy your approach to health. I like how you are trying to move away from painting things in dichotmous ways and towards a more holistic approach to health.
Sounds good to me. My new approach is to ask whether the food I’m eating or thinking about eating will make my life longer, or shorter. Chemical-laden salami, NutraSweeet, fatty restaurant food, deep fried anything = shorter; whole foods, my crazy green smoothies, home-cooked food = longer.
That’s not to say I never order a Diet Coke or go to McDonald’s…I just try to make sure I eat more of the “longer life” foods than “shorter life” foods. It’s a good start.
I still struggle with this one, even when I’m doing well myself, I find other people casting judgement on food and it kind of rubs off.
RATIONALLY I know that food holds no moral value. I just have over 35 years of conditioning I’m working on undoing.
By the way, I love your little angry loaf of bread up there!
Boy this hits home. I find myself judging food with my children. Pop tarts are bad. Oranges are good. I always try to define the good and the bad, but I know I’ve just changed their relationship with food! Food is a fuel. Food is fuel.
Susie
http://www.motherhoot.com