Overcoming Food Guilt with Self-Compassion

Many of us have experienced food guilt at some point, but for some, if it is persistent, it can perpetuate the start-stop cycle of healthy living, cause shame and judgement or lead to disordered eating.

Fortunately, overcoming this pattern of food guilt is possible over time. While there are various methods of addressing food guilt, we focus on mindful-based tools like self-compassion in this guide.

Guilt is one source of shame-based self-criticism. Prof Paul Gilbert, a clinical psychologist and founder of compassion-focused therapy, states that ‘self-criticism is one of the most disruptive inner processes and barriers to happiness and well-being.

In research conducted by Dr. Kristin Neff at the University of Texas, self-compassion has been demonstrated to be a very effective tool to combat self-criticism and nurture kindness towards oneself in times of difficulty.

This non-judgemental approach successfully breaks the loop of negative self-talk one might experience when feeling guilty about food choices. With practice, it can help to gradually ease and overcome feelings of guilt associated with food and eating habits and ultimately improve one’s relationship with food.