How You Label "Treats" Shapes Your Relationship With Food

Ever said, “I was bad—I had cake,” or called a burger your “cheat meal”? You’re not alone. The language we use around treats might seem harmless, but it carries a ton of weight (pun intended). I used to live by the bible of "cheat days" on the weekend and being "good" all week.

Words like cheat, bad, junk, or even deserved attach morality to food choices and often lead to guilt, restriction, or overeating later. When we constantly label treats as something “naughty” or “off-limits,” we make them more tempting, more emotional, and harder to enjoy mindfully. When you treat food as something you deserve, it means that you've done something (usually physical activity) to earn it.

But here’s the truth: food doesn’t have a moral value. You’re not a “bad” person for eating a brownie, and you don’t need to “earn” your pizza by running 10 miles. You simply need food to survive, for fuel, for comfort, and for culture. You need food to live - full stop.

Try reframing how you talk about treats:

• Instead of cheat meal, say choice meal. The idea of eating a wild meal that you don't typically eat is still the same, but you're not making it out to seem like you're doing something morally wrong.

• Instead of I was bad, say I enjoyed something delicious.

• Instead of junk food, say fun food, soul food, or simply food.

  
  

Here are a few more examples:

Restrictive or Morality-Based Labels

• “Cheat meal” – implies wrongdoing or guilt

• “Bad food” – sets up shame-based eating

• “Off-limits” or “Forbidden” – creates temptation and scarcity

• “Junk” – devalues the food and often, by extension, the person eating it

• “Naughty” or “Indulgent” – makes it feel like a rule is being broken

  
  

Reward-Based Labels

• “I earned this” – ties food to productivity or exercise

• “Treating myself” – not inherently bad as we should eat fun foods in moderation, but this suggest it’s only okay sometimes or rarely

• “Deserved” – as if food has to be justified

• “Weekend food” or “Vacation food” – creates rigid mental boundaries and scarcity. Suffering through the week to have a treat on the weekend is only going to make you want more of it when you do allow yourself to have it. What would happen if you had this food on a Tuesday instead? You're right - nothing.

  
  

Mindset-Based Labels That Shift Power

These can help reframe the narrative and reduce guilt:

• “Choice food” – it's just a decision, not a crime

• “Enjoyment food” – validates pleasure as part of eating

• “Satisfaction food” – reminds us that emotional and physical satisfaction matter

• “Part of balance” – removes extremes, reminds us that we can have fun foods regularly

• “Soul food” or “Comfort food” (without guilt) – connects food to emotion without shame

Long story short, language matters. The more neutral and compassionate your inner dialogue becomes, the more peace you’ll find with food and that’s where real wellness starts. Of course eating a primarily whole foods, fibre filled, balanced, and nourishing diet is the goal, but you can still eat the fun foods.

The goal here is to limit the "food noise" running through our minds at all times. Try it!

xo Shelb