Why You Feel Out Of Control Around Chips, Chocolate and Ice Cream
I took a poll last week on Instagram Story and asked people what their “fear food” is AKA the food that they CANNOT bring into the house in fear of demolishing it all in one sitting.
Much not to my surprise, people responded with everything from chips, chocolate, gummies, two-bite brownies, ice-cream and nutella.
I say “not” to my surprise, because these used to be fear foods of mine. I couldn’t possibly have chips, chocolate and ice-cream in the house without obsessing about them and eventually binging on them – and there’s a reason for this, which I know now but didn’t know before.
Let’s start by looking at the common theme amongst each of these foods – chips, chocolate, gummies, two-bite brownies, ice-cream and nutella – they’re all foods you might refer to as being “bad” or “junk food” (I don’t like to victimize foods so I call them “fun food”). You might even consider yourself to be “bad” if you happen to consume one of these foods.
You might think calling a food “bad” is harmless but it actually has a HUGE impact on the way you engage with them and might explain why you feel out of control around the chips, chocolate and ice cream.
Here’s what happens when you call a food “bad”:
You consider the chips, chocolate and ice-cream to be a “bad food”.
You don’t allow yourself to have the “bad” food in the house or enjoy it ever because it’s unhealthy and you’re afraid of gaining weight .
When you don’t allow yourself to have something, you put a novelty around it and make it the “forbidden fruit”.
Naturally, you want the forbidden fruit. A LOT.
You resist and continue to forbid yourself to have it, but the intense desire for the “bad food” builds and builds.
Eventually when you can’t resist anymore / have a bad day when emotions are running high, you “cave” and eat the “bad food”.
You feel like you’ve "ruined" the day so you vow to “start fresh tomorrow” and continue on to eat the whole bag
You feel guilty, shameful and physically uncomfortable and make a plan to start fresh tomorrow, which includes restricting and removing the “bad foods” from your household.
See point #1. And the cycle continues!
Sound familiar? If so, I see you because I was very much in the same place as you. The reality is that so many people are in this exact place because of the way we moralize and praise a healthy lifestyle nowadays, without making room for any flexibility or recognizing that kale salad can exist in the same day you consumed french fries and that doesn’t make you any less healthy or a “bad” person.
If you want to stop feeling out of control around chips, chocolate, ice cream or whatever food you deem to be your fear food, what you actually need to do is strip the food of its “bad” label and make it accessible to you.
I know that sounds crazy because we know kale salad is healthier than a bag of chips, but that’s not the point of this right now. The point is, if you want to repair our relationship with food and be able to engage with all foods in a moderate manner that doesn’t consist of constantly binging on them, hopping from diet to diet and starting fresh on Monday, then we need to see all foods in the same light.
You might think that once you give yourself permission to eat the chips, chocolate and ice cream, that all you are ever going to do is eat those foods from here on out but the reality is the opposite. From someone that once couldn’t be in the same house with a tub of ice cream without demolishing it in less than 1-2 days, I’m telling you that once you give yourself unconditional permission to have all foods when you want them, you will actually care about them less and be able to engage with them in the same way as you do with say a kale salad. My one-on-one coaching program, The Intuitive Way For Eating program, will help you to do just that!
I mean, can you imagine, grabbing a handful of chips and walking away like it ain’t no thang without exercising willpower or self-control?
It’s entirely possible! f you have any questions about anything I’ve shared in this post, I’m all ears – simply leave it in the comments below!
Here’s to making friends with our “fear foods” – for good!
Rach xx