Today we went shopping for pumpkins, apples and halloween candy. I love October. It’s all about apples, pumpkins, spice lattes, roasted nuts and halloween candy. And I love the decorations that are less scary and more festive.
However, this season can be scary, and not always fun for those who struggle with disordered eating or an eating disorder, such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder. There’s so much food, especially pies and sweets. Whether you have had a history of chronic dieting, have used food as an emotional escape, or feel out of control when it comes to eating certain foods, the sight of a bowl of Halloween candy can be enough to send you into a downward spiral. Diet culture has turned candies and sweet desserts into “bad” foods and it is hard now to approach these foods with a neutral approach. And while Intuitive Eating teaches us to pay attention to our hunger and fullness signals, candies, chocolates and pies don’t really fit into these hunger and fullness cues, as they are not foods that we would eat to satisfy hunger.
Practiing Intuitive Eating allows you to enjoy your favorite sweets and desserts as part of a healthy diet, and NO - you will not harm your body or your health by eating these types of pleasurable foods. And, yes, food is for pleasure. Once you start to shift your mindset from the binary of dieting, restriction, and scarcity to the spectrum of abundance and allowance, then food habituation (research in an area called “food habituation” shows that the more you are exposed to something – whether that be a food, a noise, or a certain smell for instance – the less your brain cares about it) can happen, and the deprivation-binge pendulum can stop.
Now this process is not easy, but it is possible. When a certain food becomes familiar and is not kept off-limits, and you know you can eat it whenever you want, it becomes less compelling. You get used to knowing it will be there today, tomorrow, and the next day, and you actually end up eating it less often. And you may actually notice that when you stop restricting, the candies may not be as appealing as they once were.
And remember, Hallowen (and the holidays that are coming around the corner) can be so much more than just the food!
If you would like support during this season and to learn more and talk with me, feel free to send me a note to my email at rachel@livehealthynyc.com