You Asked, I Answered! Top Questions Around the Food Police
Ask Me Anything: 10 Answers to Your Questions About the Food Police
Who are the food police?
The food police are anyone who enforces any type of food rule (e.g. what you can eat, how much you can eat, when you can eat, et cetera, et cetera). They take on many forms and may include family, friends, coworkers, workplace wellness programs, the general media, food marketing, and even your healthcare provider. They may also reside within you and emerge via the voices and thoughts that you hear yourself say, on repeat, like a really bad broken record.
Why do the food police exist?
The food police are a product of our society’s diet and wellness culture, a culture that celebrates and idolizes small bodies. They govern us with food rules based on the idea that bodies need to be “lean”, at a certain weight, or body mass index (BMI) in order to be healthy.
Aren’t the food police’s rules in place for a reason?
In many cases, the food police can be well-meaning. They may tend to promote healthy eating with the use of standard nutrition information and argue with you on how it is best to eat. Unfortunately, their rules negatively impact our body image, influence rebellion against the rules, and prevent us from obtaining satisfaction from food. Ultimately, they impact our quality of life! Instead of making life feel bigger, life often feels smaller due to the amount of energy and focus that goes towards thinking about food and our body throughout the day. Fact: Diets don’t work.
Why do the food police have such a hold on me?
Our food rules make us feel like we are in control of our eating and body weight. It is likely that you have adhered to at least a few of your own food rules for an extended period of time. Even so, at the end of the day, most of us feel like we are completely out of control when it comes to food and eating. We believe that being in control is the answer. Instead, it is the attempt to gain control through rigid rules that sets us up for breaking the rules leading to overeating or binge eating episodes. Cue feelings of guilt and shame. It’s a never ending viscous cycle.
My own food rules are so ingrained in me. How will I really stop dieting?
Keep in mind that the food police and their rules exist because diet culture is alive and well within our society. They aren’t mindful of our individual needs and differences and don’t respect that our bodies vary due to genetics. In order to break the cycle of dieting, you can challenge the food police by learning how to heal your relationship with food through intuitive eating! This is a process that takes time and self-exploration but doing so will improve your self-esteem.
I would like to challenge the food police but where do I start?
The food police are notorious for labeling foods as “good” or “bad”. Start thinking about food in a way that is exploratory rather than judgmental. When you begin to notice that you are getting hungry, really think about what it is that you want to eat - all judgments aside. You can reframe negative thoughts about food and eating by crafting responses for the food police. Give no consideration to any single food rule that comes to mind. For example:
The Food Police: You really shouldn’t eat that funnel cake!! It is loaded with sugar, oil, carbs, and calories.
You: I love funnel cake. I plan to have fun with my husband and kids at the fair today. I will notice how the food is tasting and feeling as I am eating it and pay attention to the point I feel satisfied. I will have more fun enjoying all the fair has to offer if I am not consumed with thoughts around food and my body.
I still want to lose weight, so how do I give up these food rules?
Intuitive eating embraces learning how to honor your hunger, experiencing satisfaction from food and eating, and feeling when you are full. In doing so, weight loss may or may not occur. Perhaps you will move toward achieving a body weight that is right for you or maybe you are already there. On the contrary, if you keep thinking about food with the intention to lose weight, your body will perceive that you are in a state of scarcity and fight back. It is important to take the time to assess your beliefs about food and your body. What are your belief systems, are they truly serving you, and how can you change them in a way that promotes self-care rather than self-sabotage? This will help you along the way.
Even if I can give up my desire to lose weight, is it really okay for me to let my nutrition “fall to the wayside”?
This is one of the most misperceived notions around intuitive eating. In no way or form is intuitive eating “letting yourself go” or an “eat what you want, whenever you want” approach. Intuitive eating is all about helping you to relearn how to be the expert of your body and learn how to make nutrition decisions that allow enjoyment and satisfaction while taking into account what your body needs. Honor Your Hunger with Gentle Nutrition happens to be the tenth and final step of the Intuitive Eating process, and is something you can work towards while breaking the cycle of dieting.
Why does it seem so difficult to stop the food police?
The external food police are abundant. If you can learn how to challenge your inner food police it will become much easier to challenge the external ones. An important first step is to make peace with your food and your body! Decide that you are in charge of your own eating rather than in control. Adopt a Health-at-Every-Size approach, and ensure that weight loss is not your primary health goal. Have you ever in your life felt that the food police truly helped you? If you are unsure, ask yourself how successful your past dieting attempts were long-term.
How can I remove the food police from my life forever?
Often, our food rules are cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are beliefs that are negative, irrational, and inaccurate. Here is an example: You wake up in the morning feeling bloated and think, “Oh gosh. I really shouldn’t have eaten those potato chips last night. My poor food choices have led to more weight gain.” In reality, weight gain takes more than several hours to occur, and it is much more likely that you feel bloated because of the salt that you ate. Even so, your cognitive distortion made you feel guilty enough that you likely considered starting a new diet. If you can identify your food rules that are cognitive distortions, this will help you quiet the food police and break free from the cycle of dieting…forever!
For additional information, review my previous blog post Stop Beating Yourself Up About Food.
