Food Freedom Is the Key to Breaking Free From Food Guilt This Season

This submit was initially printed on November 25, 2019, and has since been up to date.

I first heard in regards to the thought of meals freedom whereas listening to a podcast episode with Whole30 Founder and writer of Food Freedom Forever, Melissa Hartwig, and I’ll should admit, I assumed it was sort of a hoax. How will you reside by a diet that’s as limiting as Whole30, whereas concurrently feeling fully free round meals and your consuming habits? Because the episode went on I noticed that I had the idea of food freedom all fallacious. See, I had considered meals freedom in a extra literal sense—that you’re free to eat what you need while you need it (have to be good, proper?)—however in actuality, it’s fairly the alternative. Right here’s how Melissa Hartwig sums it up:

“If I needed to describe “meals freedom” in a single sentence, it’s this: Meals freedom is feeling accountable for the meals that you just eat, as an alternative of meals controlling you. It’s about indulging when it’s price it, passing when it isn’t, and by no means feeling guilt or disgrace for doing both. It’s about taking the morality out of meals, and recognizing you aren’t a ‘good’ or ‘unhealthy’ individual primarily based on what’s your plate. True meals freedom means you by no means once more really feel powerless over meals.”

As somebody who has struggled with negative thought patterns round meals for years, this actually struck a chord with me. “I shouldn’t have eaten that.” “Why did I let myself eat a lot.” “That is going to derail me for the remainder of the day…” are issues I discovered myself saying repeatedly in my head. I assumed this mind-set was one thing I wouldn’t ever be capable to get away from, and I had mainly written myself off as somebody who would in all probability by no means have optimistic, glad, or a lot much less proud ideas when it got here to my relationship with meals and physique picture. Once I received residence later that evening, I seemed into meals freedom deeper and found that a lot of people are talking about the way it’s modified their lives in ways in which go means past the plate.

The idea of “food freedom” has many layers, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been a struggle for me to break out of my black and white way of thinking about food as “good” or “bad”. Curious and inspired to start my own journey, I chatted with a registered dietician and mindfulness eating expert, Lisa Hayim, about sensible steps we will all take in direction of attaining meals freedom. Founding father of well being and wellness website The Well Necessities, Lisa’s aim is to make you a extra mindful eater and finally offer you the liberty that comes while you understand your self-worth isn’t tied to your physique picture, meals decisions, or how a lot you train.

Scroll on for our interview with Lisa, and her recommendation for ridding your self of responsible ideas round meals this vacation season.

How do you outline meals freedom?

Meals freedom is the power to be versatile along with your meals decisions and use your values that will help you decide what actually issues to you vs. what you’re at present emphasizing. Once we obtain meals freedom, we really feel an incredible quantity of energy. It’s stunning to those who lastly transfer away from their “controls” like weight-reduction plan or counting energy/macros to be taught that the true energy and management they had been after comes from giving up management.

I do know it sounds backward and onerous to imagine, however after we take the large quantity of strain we placed on our exterior our bodies off and start to belief the inner course of at work, we acknowledge that no meals is “unhealthy” and that consuming meals that isn’t “nutritionally excellent” doesn’t have the facility to derail us or actually have an effect on our our bodies—as long as we keep current with the method and see our inner responses. In different phrases, don’t let your mind let you know that you just blew it! The one means you’ll be able to “blow it” is by believing these phrases and falling into the mindset of pondering “it doesn’t matter now, I’ll as properly preserve going.”

How can one begin to shift their mindset round meals and damaging thought patterns?

One of the best factor to do is to begin to actually discover your ideas round meals. A whole lot of us have meals fears or concrete ideas about what/when/how a lot we “ought to eat” ingrained into us. As soon as we begin to decide them aside (one by one!) and problem them, we will begin to construct our inside knowledge. That’s a contemporary aware consuming time period used to explain the information you begin to collect about your distinctive physique.

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It seems like your experience with mindful eating has a more modern approach. Tell us about the shift. What are the key differences between traditional mindful eating (TME) vs. modern mindful eating?

Traditional Intuitive eating was created in the 80’s by two dietitians to help people reject the diet mentality and help those heal from chronic dieting. While gentle nutrition is part of the traditional process, it is a small fraction of what is taught. I started studying mindful eating to complement my own journey, and I could really see how this was a new approach to eating that so many could benefit from—but a big part of me knew that it also felt… dated. I just wanted to be able to eat to nourish, eat for pleasure (even if the food wasn’t as nutritious), and be able to expand my headspace to encompass thoughts outside of just food. I wanted to LIVE—to go on dates, spend time with family, and hang with friends and laugh over a glass of wine without “tuning in” to every bite of food.

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My approach has lots of similarities to traditional mindful eating, but I’d say the main difference is that I hone in on nutrition education early on, as I think that the best way to ditch food fears is to understand that there is nothing to fear with food. When we dive into the science, (in a simple way!), it makes it a lot easier to eat foods we previously were scared of. Modern mindful eating also extends a bit further outside of talking about food rules. I want my students to start to understand who they are and gain the confidence to be the people they were put on earth to be. Self-work is a big part of the process!

In this post, I clarify how aware consuming opened doorways for me, however trendy aware consuming modified the sport.

How do you propose to benefit from the holidays with out over-indulging?

I don’t imagine in indulging. However please – hear me out right here. To indulge actually means to offer in to pleasure. We ought to give into pleasure as people—we have now sufficient ache. So it’s not that I don’t assume it’s best to have the brownie or the stuffing—it’s that I don’t need you to think about consuming these meals as being too particular. The issue comes after we see consuming sure meals as “indulging”. I clarify my assemble rather more in this post.

Returning to the holidays, I do have some tips on what you can do to not get overfull, or to not waste your energy on overthinking about food so you can be present for your families:

Find your safe spot.

As soon as you arrive at any venue, find a place where you feel comfortable. Mine is usually a bathroom since it’s quiet, but it doesn’t have to be. I usually go there first and catch my breath and check-in with myself. Throughout the meal, I may need to retreat there, I may not. Many people are able to check in with themselves without leaving the table. I find the holidays to be harder—the laughter is loud, and the pour is heavy. In some instances, there could be some family triggers—all of which throw you off. Therefore, I need a place to just “stop” to check in with myself, maybe give myself a pep talk, and simply evaluate where I’m at.

Prepare.

Try not to walk into any event without having eaten within the past three hours. This does not mean you should eat entirely before and feel awkward while you’re there. If you walk into a party, dinner, or happy hour hungry then you’re less likely to overeat. You know how this goes. At parties, we forfeit control—we don’t decide what is served when it’s served, or how it is served. All we can do is prepare the best we can. Don’t lose your cool over those salty-sweet brie and jelly sandwiches. Stay calm, don’t go in starving, and continue to ask yourself what you want and how much you want. And above all, enjoy yourself—you’re there to have fun, after all!

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Decide What You Love.

Buffets and big dinner parties make it hard to choose what to eat. With good smells all around, we get side-tracked and overdo it (you know, leaving with your pants unbuttoned… been there, but TBH it’s been years since I’ve gotten to that discomfort.) Instead, commit to one thing you really want and stay focused on it. Love sweet potatoes? Great! Get them and be excited about eating them. Try not to reach for something you’re kind of “eh” about. Take a look around, decide what you really love—what’s calling your name—and skip the stuff that doesn’t excite you. Pro tip: don’t make these decisions before you get there. Let your body lead.

Remember: Only the first few bites are for pleasure.

When we tune in, we realize our brains and taste buds move on much faster than our minds. Tune in to those first few bites of cake (or whatever you think you can’t control yourself around) and remember any more than the first few bites are just for energy which we also need for nourishment. You’ll soon realize that the taste has dulled and is nowhere near intense as that first bite.

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Don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

Feel like you need to check out and can’t tune in with your hunger/desires? I get it, it happens! That’s where “outer wisdom” comes in. If you’re going to be mindlessly eating, make sure it’s something nutritious or not the most energy-dense food. No one wants to have a painfully full feeling in their stomach, without having even enjoyed the meal! Eat, have fun, be merry—after all, it is what the holidays are all about.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Camille Styles. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything.

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