How To Let Go Of Food Rules
Written by Isabel Vasquez, RD, LDN
Food rules are a sneaky way diet culture infiltrates our lives. We may not be on a formal diet, but we pick up bits and pieces of diet culture’s rules and essentially make our own diet.
I’ve certainly worked with clients who don’t identify as someone who diets, but do follow a lot of food rules.
Food rules can include things like, “Don’t eat past 6pm”, “Don’t eat sugar”, or “Only eat x amount of calories.”
These are rules we pick up from outside influences. Without any outside influences, there’s no way we’d be following these; we’d be eating like we were when we were babies—guided by interoceptive cues, rather than external influences.
Outside influences may include our family members, social media, television, or even medical providers.
The Role Food Rules Serve
Food rules can serve as a means of obtaining a sense of control in an overwhelming world.
They may be a means of trying to lose weight in hopes that that’ll help you love your body.
They can also serve as a means of conforming to dominant culture in order to achieve a sense of safety if you have marginalized identities.
In other words, following food rules can be a means of moving closer to whiteness, which can mean moving away from oppression, even if it tears you up on the inside to follow harsh food rules.
All that to say, following food rules can serve various purposes and you have the autonomy to decide how to proceed. My guess is that if you’re reading this blog post, you’re at least curious about letting go of food rules.
You may be sick of the way they run your life and limit your ability to enjoy food.
If that’s the case, read on to learn some tips for letting go of food rules.
Letting Go Of Food Rules
To start, make a list of the food rules you follow. Be honest with yourself and show yourself a lot of compassion along the way. Some examples of food rules to consider are:
Timing of eating
Type of food you eat
How much you eat
Beliefs about how your eating habits affect your worth
Rigid food beliefs, e.g. “If I eat x, I will gain weight”
Exercising to “earn” food
Once you’ve made your list, reflect on:
How and when you picked up the food rule
If others around you follow food rules
How following this food rule affects you
What role the food rule serves
Then, as you're ready, practice letting go of one food rule at a time.
It may seem scary. Straying away from what we’ve been taught by diet culture is an act of resistance. We are going against what society has made us believe we need to do.
Yet, if you are at this point, you probably recognize the harms of diet culture. You are ready to reconnect with your body’s cues and work towards embracing your body.
You can look at the process of letting go of food rules like an experiment. If it feels scary, you don’t have to commit to letting go of them forever right off the bat.
See how you feel after a week or two without the food rule. Let yourself be guided by your internal wisdom instead of letting these arbitrary food rules run your life. See how you feel, mentally and physically.
Here are some questions to ask yourself along the way:
What purpose does this food rule serve?
What are the pros and cons of following this food rule?
What are the pros and cons of letting go of this food rule?
What does it feel like to let go of the food rule?
What emotions have come up for me?
What has my self-talk been like? (Judgmental, compassionate, etc.)
Over time, practice letting go of one food rule at a time until you’re able to connect more with your internal cues to guide eating.
The diet culture voice may sneak in during the process. This is normal. Expecting the diet culture voice to never appear again is unrealistic. However, your resilience will grow and your conviction in ditching diet culture is key!
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