The Misunderstood Concept of Moderation in Nutrition
Many claim that moderation doesn’t work. This assumes most people actually practice moderation in their diets, which isn’t the case. Today's nutrition culture has skewed towards extremes, pushing people into cycles of severe restrictions that inevitably lead to rebound behaviors like overeating, disordered eating, stress, and anxiety.
Consider the prevailing dietary trends: they often involve ruthless elimination of certain foods, leaving people feeling deprived and miserable. This all-or-nothing mindset fails to create lasting, healthy habits. Yes, it's crucial to consume more fruits and vegetables, prioritize protein and fiber, and limit ultra-processed foods. These are the cornerstones of a nutritious diet that supports any health goal. We should indeed encourage healthier choices and improve our food environment, but extreme measures aren't the way to achieve this.
Sustainable behavioral change rarely starts with drastic actions. Shaming people for enjoying occasional treats only exacerbates the problem. We blame moderation, yet we ignore the responsibility of a culture that fosters unsustainable and unhealthy habits. This culture of fear and restriction often leads to emotional breakdowns and unhealthy relationships with food.
Overeating often stems from a poor relationship with food. Our behaviors act like slingshots: build up enough tension and stress, and they’ll snap. This is what happens with many popular diets. Research involving over 2,000 dieters in Portugal and the UK highlighted how our feelings about food impact diet success. The study found that shame, stress, self-comparison, perfectionism, low self-reassurance, and feelings of inadequacy were all linked to poorer weight loss outcomes and increased hunger and frustration.
If you prefer not to eat cereal—or any other treat—don’t. Choose your own path to better health. Loading up on sugar at every meal is unhealthy, but so is fearing every morsel you eat. Demonizing any single food item is a misrepresentation of decades of nutritional research.
Instead, aim for a balanced approach: eat well most of the time, but leave room for the foods you love, even if they lack nutritional benefits. This approach can lead to a healthier relationship with food and, ultimately, a healthier you.
Jason was recently called out for his stance on occasionally enjoying cereal. In his detailed response, he reaffirmed that moderation is key. It's entirely possible to maintain a healthy diet while indulging in your favorite treats every now and then. The idea is to cultivate a balanced and sustainable way of eating that supports your overall well-being.
We, at Sculpturself, have created Recipe Books from our personal journey in losing weight and wanted to give you the opportunity to grab them. In our journey to lose weight, we found out that we didn't want to get restrictive on our diet so what we did was, made every food we enjoyed and loved into a healthier one, at home, by reducing the taste for bit and upscaling the healthiness and protein of it.
