Take the Your Latina Nutrition Food Freedom Quiz!
Created and written by Isabel Vasquez RD, LDN
Food freedom may sound like a foreign concept far out of your reach, especially if you’ve been dieting for as long as you can remember. Yet, you can absolutely find food freedom with some work, introspection, support, and intention.
Take our food freedom quiz and learn what food freedom is, how it feels, and how to reach food freedom.
What is Food Freedom?
Food freedom essentially means that you have a healthy relationship with food.
You are no longer dieting or following strict food rules. You allow yourself unconditional permission to eat and you honor your hunger and your food cravings. No foods are off-limits (unless you have an allergy).
Food freedom means you allow yourself to eat your favorite foods, your cultural foods, and foods you may have previously restricted when you were dieting.
You recognize that you are not a robot and your hunger level and what sounds satisfying to you will vary from day to day and that’s okay.
You allow yourself to enjoy food. You use your body’s cues to guide eating rather than external rules or restrictions.
How Does Food Freedom Feel?
Food freedom feels, well, freeing! Initially, it can be challenging to confront all the ways diet culture has impacted your eating behaviors and body image, but over time, the world opens up and you feel liberated.
Experiencing food freedom looks like this:
Going out to eat without stressing over the calories
Going to parties without “compensating” for what you eat through restriction or exercise
Buying a wide range of foods you like to keep at home, even ones you may have previously labeled as “junk food”
Recognizing the value all foods provide, including your cultural foods
Connecting with your body’s cues to guide your eating
Eating until you’re comfortably full because you know you can have more food when you’re ready
No longer following rigid rules about when and what you can eat
Considering how foods make you feel in your body rather than how they impact your weight
Setting boundaries around unwelcome food comments
Being flexible about what and when you eat
Food Freedom Quiz
Do you feel like you’re addicted to or obsessed with food?
Does food take up more of your mental space than you’d like?
Do you follow food rules (like limiting your calories or cutting out certain food groups)?
Do you limit your food intake in order to control your weight?
Do you avoid keeping certain foods in the house for reasons other than food allergies?
Do you feel out of control when presented with certain foods?
Do you eat in secret sometimes for fear of judgment?
Do you label foods as good or bad?
Do you diligently track your food intake?
If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, you may be struggling to reach food freedom.
If that’s the case, you are not alone. According to the CDC, from 2013–2016, almost 50% of U.S. adults reported trying to lose weight in the past 12 months. The percentage was the same for Hispanic adults, but it was higher for women; 56.4% of women had tried losing weight.
Of course, it makes sense that so many people would seek weight loss since we are often told that weight equals health. Plus, many people try losing weight in hopes that it will increase their social standing and their self-confidence.
Yet, weight does not equal health. And oftentimes, the restrictive eating behaviors people use to try to lose weight result in an unhealthy relationship with food and a worse body image. In fact, research shows that dieting is a risk factor for eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa.
Not to mention that most people who initially lose weight on a diet regain it within a few years (CW: weight stigmatizing language).
How to Achieve Food Freedom
Reaching food freedom is absolutely possible, even if you’ve been dieting for decades. If you’re sick of following strict food rules and feeling stressed about food, then you may benefit from starting your food freedom journey.
Here are some ways you can start to find food freedom:
Reflect on your answers to the food freedom quiz. This can help you understand your relationship with food better.
Seek education about intuitive eating and HAES. Reading books or listening to podcasts hosted by weight-inclusive, non-diet dietitians or therapists is a great place to start learning more. We have articles on what intuitive eating is and what HAES is to help set the foundation for your journey!
Work with an intuitive eating, health at every size (HAES) dietitian. They can help you unpack your relationship with food and your body and ensure you are eating enough.
Start to challenge your food rules. Food rules hold you back from making peace with food. Eliminating food rules one at a time can help you find food freedom.
Final Thoughts
Developing a better relationship with food and finding food freedom may sound challenging, but it is totally possible! With time and intention, you can break free from harsh rules about what and when you can eat and stop stressing about food.
For education on how to ADD nutrition to your favorite Latine cultural dishes, make peace with food, and focus on your health without dieting, join our nutrition library for just $27/month.
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