April  2007

Give Peace a Chance: Neutralize Food

This article is another installment in our series on the New You: Health For Every Body class. It discusses one of the most difficult topics covered in the class.

Some people seem to struggle or even fight with food. Have you ever experienced any of the following?

• Craved a food that was restricted through a diet, and found that craving continues after the diet ended.

• Finally given in to a forbidden food and then binged on it. For example, decided you couldn’t eat potato chips, then one day gave in and found yourself eating an entire 12 ounce bag.

• Found yourself in the “Last Supper” mentality—overeating just before you plan to start the next diet. Or, overeating a particular food because you believe you won’t have it again for a long time.

• Eaten forbidden foods only when no one is watching.

Struggles such as these are very common among dieters. Being a healthy eater or an intuitive eater means putting these kinds of struggles behind you. It means letting go of the idea that some foods are good, but the really tasty foods are bad.

One possible dieting strategy might be this: list your favorite foods in column A. in column B, list only foods you hate. Now tell yourself to eat only foods in column B. What is likely to happen?

Most people crave foods that are restricted. The longer foods are prohibited, the more seductive they become. You feel deprived and are tempted to give in, maybe even with a binge.

Put an end to diet struggles by making peace with food. The approach suggested in Intuitive Eating may seem almost frightening for some people. Keep in mind that it has worked for many people who have had struggles with food and give it a try.

Making peace with food involves four ideas which run counter to all the dieting advice you may have ever heard.

1. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. This means desserts, chocolate, bread, pasta, rice, beans, fruit—all foods! At first, this may seem to conflict with the idea of gentle nutrition. However, this approach puts trust in yourself to eat all the foods you like while attending to cues of hunger and fullness. If food is not forbidden, cravings, binge eating and overeating will eventually decrease.

2. There are no good or bad foods. All foods can fit in a day of healthy eating. When something is labeled as “bad,” it is much more alluring and exciting. Neutralize food to take away it’s emotional appeal to make it as mundane as the air you breath.

3. Eat what you really want, not what a diet says you should. This can be a scary thought. What if you don’t stop eating? Some people find they eat more of some foods at first.
   As they listen to their body and pay attention to internal hunger and fullness signals, food cravings subside. In fact, some people find they don’t really like some foods they once craved.

4. 
   Forget about food “deals.” Have you ever promised yourself you will exercise more or skip the next meal in exchange for a food that is off-limits? Can you really enjoy the
   special treat if you have to make a deal to have it? And, how likely are you to carry through with the deal anyway? A failure to do so will result in feeling guilty and berating yourself for having failed yet again.

The solution? Neutralize food, make all foods “legal.”

• Neutralizing food is a process to eliminate guilt and deprivation. Stop labeling or judging food and return all food to a neutral status. Intuitive eating means giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods and trusting yourself to find a healthy balance.

• Neutralizing food is more helpful than labeling. The intent of labeling foods—fattening or nonfattening, good or bad—is often to help people lose weight, but it generally has the opposite effect. Prohibition increases desire; nothing makes food more alluring and impossible to resist than calling it forbidden.

• Neutralizing food is a means to an end. Food must be neutral if we are to be at peace with food, to end food and weight obsessions and to reduce potential eating problems.

• Neutralizing food is the opposite of dieting. With diets, foods are labeled and then restricted or deprived. When you legalize food, you say “no” to diets forever. Give yourself permission to eat when you are physically hungry, choose foods you are hungry for, and eat the quantity that satisfies you.

• Remember that legalizing all food does not mean binge eating or eating out of control. Rather, if we are aware of our bodies’ nutritional needs and hunger signals, it is all right to eat what we desire. We need to eat slowly and to focus on what we are eating. Checking in with our bodies tells us when we are satisfied and can stop eating. We are working towards a flexible, gentle approach rather than a rigid restrictive eating pattern.

This may seem difficult and uncomfortable to try, especially if you have been restricting what you eat for a long time. Keep in mind that the goal is to have the foods you love available, truly enjoy the food to your satisfaction and crave it less.

1. Make a list of your favorite foods. This list probably includes foods you might label as dangerous, bad, forbidden or illegal. You might fear you will lose control if you eat these foods.

2. Pick one food from your list. Buy it! In fact, buy some extra.

3. Give yourself permission to eat this food whenever you are hungry for it. Enjoy the food. Create a pleasant food atmosphere. Focus on the food—don’t do anything else while
   you eat it. Promise not to scold yourself when you eat a food you love. Think about how it tastes and how you feel when you eat it.

4. Replenish supplies as they go low.

5. When feeling comfortable with this process, move on to other foods from your list.

By now, you may be thinking, “If I neutralize food, I am afraid I will…”

Lose control. It is normal to be afraid of gorging on this food you have brought home. Many people discover when they surround themselves with great quantities of foods they love and stop yelling at themselves for eating, their cravings diminish and eventually disappear.

Gain weight. If you have just come off a diet, some weight gain may occur as part of the natural rebound. Once you have truly legalized food, and eat in response to true hunger and satiety, your weight should stabilize.

Harm health. If you have medical concerns that respond to food restrictions, such as diabetes, you may need to modify your eating as a respectful response to your body’s needs. Listening to your body is especially important.

Find it gone. For this activity to work you must know the food will be there when you want it. Let family members know your plan. Designate shelf space or a special cupboard for your food, and one for them as well.

Give this process a chance to work. Trust yourself, pay attention to your physical signs of
hunger and fullness. Give peace a chance.