I used to think that if I ran X number of kilometres, added an evening walk into my already gym-fuelled day, or frequented an additional gym class, it meant that I could allow myself that extra drink or pasta or croissant. But the concept that you need to ‘earn’ your treats and work off your indulgence is antiquated, triggering and just pure damaging.
It perpetuates the idea – particularly to women – that our default inquiry about nutrition is still focused on weight loss, and that you are not worthy of enjoying your food unless you have ‘earned’ it. Food and exercise are not a transaction.
Think about it: if you are directly equating food eaten with an exercise ‘equivalent’, what affect do you expect that will have on someone who is simply having a day off exercise? Positing food as something to be ‘earned’ will only compound one’s guilt and self-blame. It invites obsessive, unhappy, self-castigating mind-sets. And, as a matter of fact, this is a tell-tale sign of disordered eating.
Do you ever get ‘gym guilt’? That feeling when you miss a workout or have just decide to rest your body, but subsequently proceed to spend the entire day feeling guilty about everything you’re putting in your body. That’s because we have been conditioned to believe food is transactional.
Food is not a reward, exercise it not a punishment. Believe it or not, some people work out because they enjoy it and because it’s good for their long-term health. So please, stop posting on Instagram promoting your feverish and forced workout that you have unwillingly compelled yourself to do, just to try and cancel a few calories. The only thing that should be cancelled is the notion of ‘earning’ what you put into your body.