The Case For Food Values vs Food Rules

If you’re still following food rules, this is for you.

Here’s why a values-based approach is just the amount of flexibility and meaning you’re looking for.

Rules were made to be broken, right? Let’s taco bout it…

Why I’m against food rules…

Food rules honestly set you up to be disappointed in yourself. The ideas that “I can eat this,” “I can’t eat that” (allergies aside) or “I only eat during x hours of the day,” don’t take into account the amount that your needs can fluctuate weekly, daily, or even hourly. With a rigid approach to your diet, you’re relying on your mind to dictate what is best for you while you ignore your body. Overtime, this disconnect can make even trying to listen to your body really tough. Rebuilding that connection is something you have to be really intentional about.

Rather than being present with yourself and exploring what you may need at that particular moment, food rules mean you’re constantly looking outside ourselves to dictate what you need.

There’s always an exception to a rule, right?

You can see how if this is the way you’re approaching your diet, you’re not setting yourself up to deal with the times where the rule just simply doesn’t make sense. You’re setting yourself up to feel like you’ve failed.

Research has also shown that the more we try to make certain foods off limits to ourselves the more preoccupied we become with them and the less in control we feel when we encounter them. So the reality is, having food rules is just plain ineffective and it’s one more thing creating tension in our food relationships that we don’t need.

Why I’m enthusiastic about food values…

Ah, food values why do I love thee so?

A values-based approach to your diet encourages you to dig deeper to explore what’s meaningful to you when it comes to your food habits. Sustainability? Supporting local businesses? Convenience? Animal welfare? Whatever it may be for you, your food values can act as a GPS system as you navigate your diet, recalculating as needed - because (for whoever needs to hear this) you can value multiple factors when it comes to your diet and their priority level may need to shift based on whatever situation you may find yourself in.

But, because this approach is all about what is meaningful to you, you’re likely to connect to it emotionally and feel an organic motivation to make choices aligned with your particular food values. They have meaning in a way that food rules don’t - which means it’s an easier system to align with because it means something to you but also because this approach doesn’t have any hard fast rules.

When you value something, you prioritize it, but it doesn’t preclude you from trying something else or sometimes needing to go in a different direction.

There’s a beautiful flexibility in this approach that allows us to navigate our diets based on our real-time needs ultimately improving our food relationship and probably well-being too…

For me, I value a plant-based diet that is flavorful and inspiring. No labels or food rules necessary.