The Food Police Are Cancelled

When was the last time you had a peaceful meal without The Food Police chiming in? When was the last time you challenged those thoughts, and said, “You’re Cancelled!”?

In an episode for the RD Real Talk Intuitive Eating podcast series, Christyna Johnson MS RD and I talk about intuitive eating principle 4—firing your food police.

Who are The Food Police?

No, I’m not talking about the nutrition coach on Instagram preaching about macros and detoxes to you, or even the RD you might have met with one time who went through your food log with a red pen and marked up where you went “wrong”. (Ugh, TBH, I hope you never had either of those experiences! But, truth be told, I know some of you have.) 

The Food Police are thoughts in YOUR head.

I’m talking about YOUR Food Police, which are the thoughts and inner dialogue that chime in every single time you make a decision about food.

Most of us know our this voice well; we hired them at some point when we decided we had to “go on a diet” or get “serious” (perhaps obsessive) about so-called “healthy” eating. These thoughts keep us in that diet mentality, or disordered eating patterns.

The Food Police may be a form of, or sound a lot like, your/an Eating Disorder (ED) voice, or the diet you followed on/off for a while, or a parent/guardian who always has something to say about what’s on your plate. But ultimately,

The Food Police take up space in your head without paying rent, providing any support, or really doing anything useful, at all. 

How do you fire The Food Police?

Let’s talk about that. 👇

Challenging, and eventually silencing, these thoughts may involve: 

• Doing exactly the opposite of what your food police suggest. “That’s too many carbs!” they say. “No,” you think, “it’s just the right amount for me.”  
• Knowing your triggers. Maybe your Food Police don’t show up at every meal or snack, but they do love to starting policing your meals and snacks when you feel anxious, emotional, stressed, or all of the above. Start to get to know when they do chime in, and why. 
• Being gentle with yourself. The Food Police thoughts are demanding, convincing, they’re pretty sure they Know It All. Be gentle as you combat these learned thought patterns, and try to go back to trusting yourself instead. 

And again, give it a try, but don’t expect it to be easy right away.
(We can talk about this in the Facebook group!) 

Questions?
Stories to share?
Finding it hard to practice that unconditional permission?

Join us here to discuss, and connect with others who have been there, too. 

P.S. Don’t forget: The 4th Edition of Intuitive Eating comes out in June 2020!Pre-order your copy now*.  

 

source https://betterweightloss.info/the-food-police-are-cancelled/