Toxic thoughts about food.

Written By jordanbhealthy .

It's New Year's Eve. We're watching TV while enjoying some hot cocoa with leftover Christmas cookies. Seeing the big bucket of leftover cut-out cookies, the old urge to binge arises. I should eat as much as I want tonight because tomorrow is the new year. And as diet culture dictates, this means cutting out "unhealthy foods" and getting "back on track." This is the message from diet culture that we're constantly bombarded with and, sadly, the binge-restrict cycle we're often stuck in. In the past, I would have felt guilty from eating sweets over the holiday, and I would have made a goal to eat "clean" in the new year. "Clean eating" is always code for restricting certain foods. This would lead to immediately craving the food I was about to deny, in this case, cookies. The result: an all-out binge tonight and completely eliminating all sweets tomorrow.

I have worked hard to ditch the binge-restrict cycle and find food freedom. Because of this work, I recognized what was happening and did not give in to old habits! First, I took a pause and acknowledged what I was feeling. Then I gave myself permission to eat more cookies if I wanted. While also making a commitment to not throw away all the cookies tomorrow. I knew I might want a cookie next week, and there was absolutely no reason I could not have one. No food was off-limit just because it was the New Year. So I had another cookie and then stopped. No binge. No guilty feelings. Just peace with this food.

It's January 6th, and I still have Christmas cookies in my house. Most times, I forget they're still here. It feels WILD to actually forget they are here when it would have driven me crazy a couple of years ago. But today, they're not even on my radar. When I want a sweet, I allow myself to have one. I can keep my favorite foods in the house and not binge, even forgetting they're here! Finally ditching the binge-restrict diet cycle allowed me to find peace with ALL foods. I have more joy with my favorite foods than ever before. My mind is free from guilt over what I should or shouldn't be eating. 

It was not easy to get to this place with food. There are hard days, and I clearly still have these feelings pop up from time to time. Especially when the diet industry is constantly bombarding us with toxic messaging (particularly during this time of year!) Breaking up with dieting and finding food freedom is so worth the hard work!! There's a saying, "the foods you can't keep in your house are the ones you most need to make peace with." Did you throw out your sweets or make a deal with yourself not to eat certain things in the new year? This is a great time to take a hard look at your relationship with food. If things aren't how you want them to be, maybe 2022 is your year to change that. It's hard to do that alone, so if you're looking for some gentle support from someone who has been through it (and is still working on it), I'm here for you! 

If you:

jordanbhealthy .
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