WHY YOU FEEL OUT OF CONTROL AROUND CERTAIN FOODS
Do you feel out of control around ice cream? Or is it chips, chocolate, cookies, candy or brownies? I hear this from clients all the time. I can never have "x" in the house or I would eat it all in one sitting.
This does not surprise me at all. I used to think this way as well. My so called "fear" food was ice cream. I love ice cream, but for years I would not buy it as I thought I would be out of control around it and eat the entire tub. I viewed ice cream as "bad" for me, therefore if I had it in the house and ate it, I was essentially "bad." Fast forward until now and I know this way of thinking was not rational or healthy. I was not "bad" for having ice cream nor was ice cream "bad." Food does not have morality. Food is just food.
If you label food as “bad,'‘ this can often happen:
You do not feel as though you can have the “bad” food in the house.
You worry that if you eat the “bad” food you will gain weight or be unhealthy.
You resist the food and then what happens? You want it SO much more!
You are able to resist it for a while but you notice the desire for it increasing. All of a sudden everything looks like a cookie or a brownie!
Eventually, you can no longer resist the urge when you are having a rough or emotional day and you eat the so called “forbidden” food.
You feel terrible and decide that you will continue to eat the entire tub or box and will “start fresh” tomorrow.
You feel guilt and shame that you ate this “bad” food and promise yourself you will restrict it from your life and begin the diet/restriction again.
The cycle starts again as you head back to the beginning of this list and “give in” and eat the fear food again.
If you want to feel comfortable around all foods, you have to remove the “bad” or “unhealthy” label from it and make it accessible to you. I know how scary that can be especially if you have been restricting this food for a long time. I would suggest starting slowly.
Please do not misunderstand my message. We all know that a salad with grilled chicken is more nutrient dense than a bag of cookies. However, this is not what we are debating right now. What I am trying to help you do, is to repair your relationship with food. The only way to do this is to allow all foods into your diet and understand that eating so called “bad” foods will not derail your healthy lifestyle.
You might think you will have no control if you have these “bad” foods in your house. But trust me when I tell you this is not the case. I was that person - I could not have ice cream in the house because I knew I would eat it all within no time. Now that I have healed my relationship with food, I often have ice cream in the freezer and go for weeks without eating it. I know it will always be there (unless my teenage sons find it 😂) and I can have it another day. I do not care about the ice cream as much anymore. It has literally lost power over me.
If a food feels TRIGGERING to you, it's likely a sign that you're restricting yourself. Even if you feel as if you're not, feeling out of control around food is a sign that you're physically or mentally restricting yourself.
Here’s to ditching food labels and making peace with food! If you want to be able to grab a few cookies or a bowl of ice cream without feeing out of control, reach out and I can help. Life is too short not to eat ice cream!
