Is Food the Enemy?

by | Jul 17, 2021 | Diet Culture, Diet Recovery, Intuitive Eating

I hear from coaching clients all the time that “food is the enemy” in their life. I want to write a blog post addressing this common belief and why it happens.

So… Is Food the Enemy? Short answer… NO!

But the longer answer is that we are often made to feel like it is, AND there’s a good reason why it might appear that way to you because we live in a world full of dieting messages.

Take a moment to mentally run through the different messages you have received about food in your lifetime. Do any of these ring a bell?:

  • Fat is bad for you
  • Sugar is bad for you
  • Carbohydrates are bad for you
  • Refined sugar and flour is bad for you
  • Eating at night is bad for you
  • Eating large meals is bad for you
  • Eating a lot of small meals is bad for you
  • More protein is better for you
  • Too much protein is bad for you
  • Bread is bad for you
  • Fruit has too much sugar in it

Sadly, this list took me about 20 seconds to create and most of that was spent typing. There are more I could add to this I’m sure, but I think you get the idea.

The natural next step when you break one of these rules is to then think that your body is bad or the enemy if you eat one of these “off-limits” foods. So you decide to restrict these foods or remove them completely from your diet. Incidentally, when we remove something from our diet that we actually enjoy eating, we are wired to start thinking about it, wanting it and eventually having an intense craving for that food.

So we “give in” to the craving, often eating past the point of comfortably full, and hardly even tasting or enjoying the experience. So… we tighten the reins once again, creating an even tighter plan. But what happens? You guessed it – we crave the food again and indulge.

This is called a cycle for a reason!

The only way to break the cycle is to make peace with food. Food is not the enemy. Who is the enemy? Restriction and Deprivation. Moralizing food. These are the enemies to fight.

Join me for a free coaching call where I can give you tools to fight the real enemy in your relationship with food and your body! Click here to schedule.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brooke Spendlove

I’m a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and the owner and creator of Spendlove Coaching.

My own wellness journey led me to getting my Master’s Degree in Health and Wellness Coaching from Creighton University – Go Blujays!

I help my clients discover that they are the experts of themselves. Using the tools learned inside my program and during coaching sessions, clients learn how to shift their mindset, taking back the power they have lost to dieting and diet culture