Banning vs allowing foods

Banning vs allowing foods 🚫

You might struggle with overeating particular foods when they’re in your environment. Naturally this may make you

frustrated because it’s getting in the way of your health/weight loss goals. An extremely common approach is to instantly ban certain foods which you may struggle not to over consume. But is banning ‘problem’ foods really a good solution? Eliminating these foods may work, but is it really a long-term solution? Is it feasible for you to never encounter these foods ever again? Does that sound like the relationship with food you want to have?

The issue with banning foods e.g. chocolate/biscuits/ cheese etc is that unless you never want to eat that food ever again you will undoubtedly encounter it in future. When you do you’ll be back in the same cycle of eating it to excess and feeling bad about it. Demonising foods and restricting them has been shown to lead to increased stress and poor mental health. It creates a negative relationship with food and can lead to a cycle of restriction and binge eating.

Instead legalise those foods and allow them in your diet. It will allow a more balanced and healthier relationship with food that’s associated and studies have shown that it’s associated with reduced disordered eating, more self-control, less depression, reduced anxiety, better body image and increased self esteem and fewer food obsessions.

Studies have also shown that over time it leads to weaker desires for potentially tempting food. You become habituated to the food and that means you’re less likely to over eat it to excess. This means you need less self-control and less cognitive (brain) power to deal with it. As a result you can focus your attention on things like hunger signals etc and learn to manage your appetite more naturally.

How do you actually do this?

Use tools like calorie tracking/logging food together with things like rating your hunger and fullness. Eat mindfully – avoid distractions and focus on what you’re actually eating. Use repeated exposure – so have that food regularly in your diet.

So don’t ban foods – learn to enjoy them as part of your overall diet. This will promote long term success, satisfaction and enjoyment, rather than guilt.

🤗xx