Throughout quarantine, people have been reporting more and more about gaining the Quarantine Fifteen. To combat the Quarantine Fifteen, several diets have popped up including intermittent fasting, clean eating, ketogenic or high-fasting, and calorie deficits. Now, I do want to disclose before I continue with this article, I am in absolutely no way saying that people should follow these diets unless they want to, nor am I saying that these diets are ineffective. I am currently on a calorie deficit myself because I found myself eating more during quarantine and did not like what track that I was personally on. To keep myself on track, I downloaded a couple of calorie counting apps. One of my biggest issues with the calorie counting apps is that whenever I go over my set number of calories, I feel so disgusted with myself because I went over my daily amount of calories I can consume. I would even go as far to say that whenever I go over my designated number of calories that my body dysmorphic fears become much more prevalent. This is one of the worst side effects of calorie counters because while they do hold you accountable, it can also make people feel like failures for eating and enjoying food. This is extremely damaging to one’s self worth and can most definitely lead to eating disorders. Kind of playing off my last point, I have noticed myself that I have extreme feelings of guilt whenever I enjoy food because when I put what I just ate into my calorie counter, it is such a large number that I will internally berate myself for eating and liking what I ate. So, sometimes, to level out my guilt feelings, I won’t log what I eat because I know that my app will make me feel even guiltier.
If you are anything like me and have these issues, I want to take a moment and remind you that we are allowed to enjoy what we eat and not feel guilty. We are allowed to have cheat days, and we are certainly allowed to take a much-needed trip to McDonalds. What we are not allowed to do is base our self-worth on numbers, whether those numbers be on a scale or on a calorie counting app. If you feel comfortable or want to diet, then diet. However, I really want to emphasize that you can eat healthy and not diet or not depend on a calorie counter. There are some meals that are actually extremely healthy that I love, but those meals may have a decent number of calories. I think dieting and being in a calorie deficit is dependent on not only changing eating habits to healthier alternatives, but also knowing what your body needs. If it needs chicken alfredo, even if chicken alfredo may have a lot of calories, give your body chicken alfredo. Food is fuel, and your body deserves the absolute best from you that you can give it. No matter where you are in your health journey, I just want to remind you of a few key points. One, it is okay to mess up! We all mess up because no human is perfect, and understanding that cheating is part of the process is a great way to become more comfortable experience. Two, I want to reiterate this again, your self-worth is absolutely not dependent on any number. You are powerful, you are beautiful, and you are an individual who deserves nothing less than happiness. If you think that your self-worth will become higher the more weight you lose or the lower amount of calories you eat in a day, I can tell you from my own personal experience that going down that road is one of pure self-destruction and late night crying fests because you feel like that you will never be good enough because of a number. Remember, everyone is different, and everyone is beautiful in their own unique way.