Interested in Intuitive Eating? Watch For The Food Police
by Meredith Noble
Have you embarked on an intuitive eating journey, or are you thinking of starting one? Even when we’re a little way down the path, sometimes the “food police” can still sneak in.
Who are the “food police?” They’re the voices in your head that tell you that certain foods (e.g., milk chocolate) or eating behaviors (e.g., eating after dinner) are “bad”.
Consider the following list of foods. Do you harbor judgments about any of these foods? Do you prevent yourself from eating any of them because they’re “bad” for you?
- Potato chips
- Cupcakes
- Chocolate bars
- Gummy candy
- Movie theater popcorn
- White bread
- Cheese
- Tortilla chips
Whether we’re beginners or more experienced, it’s still easy to catch ourselves making judgments about our food.
Why is it important to quiet the voices of your internal food police? Because intuitive eating is all about trusting your body, not external food rules. External food rules result in restriction, which ends up creating a rebellion, and often binges!
Instead of saying “potato chips are bad and I shouldn’t eat them”, as intuitive eaters we learn to ask our bodies questions like, “Are potato chips going to feel good right now?” Sometimes our bodies might say, “Yes, yum!” and other times they might say, “Yeah, no. That’s not going to feel great right now.” Intuitive eating is about honoring those answers and knowing that our bodies are going to choose the right combinations and quantities of food to make them happy, satisfied, and running well.
Keep an eye out over the coming days. If you catch your food police officers on patrol, tell them to go off duty. You’ve got this!