RESOURCES ARTICLES

Imperfect is Perfect!

A few years ago I was presenting a nutrition seminar to a packed room at a company downtown. Just as I was about to begin speaking, a tall lanky guy barged in the room and strut confidently to the front of the room and sat down directly in front of me. With a smirk on his face he pulled out a bag and proceeded to chow down on a greasy fast food combo meal. There were a few gasps and looks of surprise on some of the other participant's faces. As I began my session I could see that the "wise guy" was annoyed that I did not react to his lunch choice. Towards the end of my session I highlighted something that surprised the group...

I told them that when it comes to nutrition, imperfect is perfect. I explained that you could eat a greasy fast food combo meal in front of me and that I would not react. The reason being, there are no good and bad foods, only good and bad diets as a whole.

The concept of imperfect eating may be tough to wrap your head around since many of us have been taught to strive for excellence and that anything less is a pathetic effort. The diet industry and even some of my colleagues in the health and wellness industry provide lists that highlight "super foods" you should eat and bold lists of evil foods you should never eat.

Remember that trying to follow a regimented inflexible diet will only set you up to fail. It compromises the principle that we all want what we can't have. Trying to remove your favourite foods will only lead to overdoing them and feelings of failure for not sticking to your perfect eating regime. One of my favorite comics I have seen in the newspaper was a caption of a bakery truck that had been raided by a mob of frantic Atkins dieters.

What have you tried to remove from your diet that made you feel like a failure when you couldn't stick to it? Can you find a middle ground in between ALL or NONE?