So, I focused on Honoring My Hunger this week and it was a learning experience. I don’t expect to be able to read my hunger perfectly at this point, but I’m trying to be more aware.
The third principle of Intuitive Eating is Make Peace With Food.
From the Intuitive Eating website:
Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.
I take this as – stop calling chocolate chip cookies and pizza “Bad”. Eat what you really want, not what you think you should eat because it’s healthy.
This chapter of the book actually gives specific steps to Make Peace with Food:
1. Pay attention to foods that appeal to you and make a list of them.
2. Put a check by the foods that you do allow yourself and circle the ones that are off limits.
3. Give yourself permission to eat one of your forbidden foods – go out and eat it.
4. Check in with yourself to see if the food takes as good as you imagined. If you really like it continue to buy it or order it.
5. Make sure you keep enough of that food around so you know you can have it whenever you want.
You should go through this process with every forbidden food.
Hmmmm…I’m going to make my food list and see what I come up with.
Question: Do you have “forbidden foods”? Do you let yourself enjoy them without guilt?
I really like number 4. I usually find that my “forbidden” food isn’t quite as amazing as I’d hoped and end up wondering what the hell I was so obsessed for 🙂
I can’t eat gluten so there’s a whole food group of forbidden foods. I’ve learned to enjoy the foods that I can eat, whether they are “good” or “junk.” The more I exercise, the more I find that my body regulates itself. I’m still going to eat the chocolate, ice cream, or potato chips, but my body doesn’t want as much of it.
I don’t have “forbidden” foods as much as I have some foods that I don’t keep in the house. I like to go out for ice cream or buy a decadent brownie or cookie instead of having it in the house. Those 2 things, ice cream and baked goods really tempt me. I still enjoy them, but having them in the house is tough because I have trouble controlling portions when it come to those things.
I used to have forbidden foods…pretty much anything sweet, except for the holidays. Oh the horror…!!
Life is so much more pleasant without being forbidden anything. 😀
oh such a great quote! I learned a long time ago to stop making foods “bad” and that helped a lot! However I know I still eat sometimes when I’m not actually hungry
My only probably “forbidden” food would be a milkshake, just because they contain such a high amount of fat. One of these days I just have to bite the bullet and order one though because they taste heavenly:)
I don’t really think I have any “forbidden foods.” For the most part nothing is off limits too me–I just try to modify it or what I eat afterwards if it’s “bad”
o wait! i just saw your previous post so ignore that last question! hehe
I don’t think I really have any forbidden foods…I’ll usually eat what my belly is craving within reason and feel guilty when it looks gross 😉 I’ve never really thought about listing what foods appeal to me. Hm. I think I’ll make a list this weekend! What foods appeal to you??
the only foods i would say are forebidden in my diet are processed foods containing hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. besides that i eat lots of whole foods and indulge in homeade sweets and comfort foods whenever i crave them just in the right portions.
I don’t have a specific forbidden foods list but there are things I just don’t eat anymore because I know I don’t have control with them. I avoid lots of cookies and fried stuff. And when I eat it they really aren’t as good as I thought so I don’t buy them.
But Onion Rings are a different story. I love them and get them occassionally.
I have to say that I do have a forbidden foods list, but have been getting better at it. One of those foods is almond butter, but I am slowly re-introducing it into my world. I too am working on making peace with all kinds of food, and I find that life is more enjoyable that way!
I’d like to say that I don’t have forbidden foods but that’s not true. I did push my limits a couple days ago by making cookies. Any baked good doesn’t last very long in my house, at least the cookies are healthy though!! I’ve eaten 8 of them in 2 days.
Anything white, fluffy and pastry-like is on my no-no list for sure. I think it’s because stuff like that doesn’t ever fill me up…so I tend to eat more of it waiting to get full. It’s still hard to consciously go out and buy it though…
Love this post, I really like reading about IE from your point of view.
I am happy to say that I don’t have any more forbidden foods. I eat what I want, and it’s liberating. =)
i don’t know if i have forbidden foods per se but i definitely tend to eat the same stuff day in and day out. it’s kind of like i’m on autopilot when it comes to planning what i want to eat for the day.