Have you recently taken healthy eating to the extreme? Have you rid your diet of all processed or non organic food? Has your fear of sugar reached a new level of obsession? Do you put carrots, bananas and raisins in the same "off limit" food list as candy, ice cream and cookies?
Food restriction is a common disordered eating symptom. This avoidance behavior involves setting rigid rules that tell you which foods are "allowed" in your diet and what foods are "off limit."
While calorically-dense foods are the most commonly avoided, fear foods vary from person to person and they may even vary depending on the day. Fear foods are foods that you may feel anxious or uncomfortable eating - thus the reason why they are feared. The fear may come from thoughts of how this food may affect your weight or body composition, how this food may affect how you feel about your body or any past negative experiences from a food. With no underlying medical, ethical or religious reasons, the thought (or act) of eating this food can make you feel ashamed or guilty.
The reason behind your thoughts and fears about a food can stem from friends or family but more common reasons include social media, news and the ever-so-damaging diet culture. In our weight-obsessed society, diets are filled with "good" and "bad" foods. In attempt to lose weight or change body composition, the "bad" foods are removed in an effort to succeed with the diet plan. These off limit foods are correlated with the idea of cheating on the diet - and things bring great anxiety, guilt and shame. The more diets or meal plans that you follow, the more rules you develop - which can lead to many different food fears.
Consider your diet as a whole before obsessing over and restricting sugar, gluten, dairy, carbs, calories or any other food, food group, ingredient or food component. The more fear you have around food, the more anxiety and guilt you bring to eating. This can cause lack of pleasure in food (and eating), food rigidity (only eating "safe" foods), isolation (not eating out or eating with others) and avoiding food-related events and activities. Food fears also creates an increased obsession with food which can lead into an eating disorder. Food fears requires a lot of time and mental energy with so much thinking and planning regarding food - which means having less time and energy to living a quality-filled life.
All foods can fit into a healthy and active lifestyle. A nutritious diet is built on long-term, sustainable behaviors that enhance your quality of life. Challenging your food fears takes time, effort and courage. Disordered eating habits keep your life small. If rules and restrictions are not challenged, it's difficult to make your life big and meaningful.
Because of the great fear of binging on fear foods, it's best to work with a dietitian who specializes in disordered eating when facing food fears. The dietitian will help you work through your food fears by helping you build confidence and trust in your food related decisions as you create coping strategies to use during the feared food process.
The more power you give to food, the more you obsess over it. Disordered eating removes important things from your life - from relationships to travel. In an effort to gain control over eating, it's likely that you may lose more than just weight - relationships, careers, family, friends, vacations, joy, travel, etc. It is possible to have a healthy relationship with food. You have within you the courage and strength to face your food fears as you work toward a life where food no longer has power of you.