How to Make Peace with Food

Let's sign a peace treaty with food.

Do you ever feel like you are at war with food? I’ve had many new clients tell me that food is their enemy and brings them a huge amount of stress. But what if we could call off the war with food and find a way to not only make peace with food, but let it bring us more joy?

Making peace with food means giving ourselves unconditional permission to eat. When we restrict certain foods we can feel deprived and actually develop uncontrollable cravings.

If I tell you, “Don’t think about a hippo right now.” What do you think about? A hippo. We can apply a similar concept to food. If we tell ourselves that we can’t have cookies, what do we want and think about? Cookies.

‍This mental and physical deprivation can lead to overeating and binging on foods that we feel out of control around.‍

When we give ourselves permission to eat ALL foods and allow them to become normalized in our life, it takes away that intense desire and urgency, which allows us to eat more mindfully and really notice how differences foods make us feel.It’s common that foods people restrict are those that they were told are “fattening”, “unhealthy”, or “unclean”. Food is not black or white though. There are no good or bad foods or “clean” and “unclean” foods. All foods can fit into a health-promoting, balanced diet.

‍Rigid self-control may seem like the solution, but most of the time it back-fires and creates an unhealthy relationship with food and an unrealistic way of eating.

‍By allowing all foods into our life we stop living in fear that we will never eat them again. Once that fear is gone we may decide to eat a few cookies on the pan because we know we can have more tomorrow. Or we may eat more in the moment because they taste so darn good but whatever we decide it will be with mindfulness and intention.Take notice of what foods you avoid, restrict, or keep out of your home at all costs. What if you gave yourself permission to enjoy those foods? It may sound scary at first, but what if you no longer felt out of control around those foods?

‍When we make peace with food, we lower our stress around food, and often find we can experience a lot more joy when eating!

‍Are you hungry for change in your life and relationship with food? Here at Nourish we help clients heal their relationship with food and stop the cycle of dieting for good. Want to improve your relationship with food?