Habituating Foods
What does “habituating foods” even mean? Let’s break it down!
I hear a lot about overeating or feeling out of control around foods from friends, family, clients & followers. The reality of these instances is that everyone does it, whether it’s every so often or more often than one would like. Just like you, I overeat sometimes too.
Overeating causes the stomach to expand past its normal size, pushing into other organs. This discomfort can leave you feeling sluggish, tired, bloated or in pain. You may also experience heartburn, as stomach acids are being pushed up into your esophagus.
Sometimes overeating happens because of the wonderful taste of the food, the hunger level you experience going into a meal, the stress you are feeling, or the habit of clearing your plate. Sometimes people experience overeating chronically, and sometimes people experience overeating once in a while.
The point when overeating becomes a concern is when you are experiencing overeating, or feelings of being out of control around food, on a daily basis, or often enough where you notice it and want to change it.
One thing I work on with my clients that helps to reverse the cycle of dieting is HABITUATING foods. Habituating foods is the practice of consuming foods that you want to feel more in control around, on a daily basis. This practice purposefully consumes the food you may feel out of control around, face any feelings of anxiety, and sit with those feelings. Since you may not eat these specific foods unless on the weekends, you are restricting it, causing you to want it more. This is when it becomes a binge. In turn, we want to normalize the foods that are a trigger for you. The idea is to repeat the practice of introducing these fear or restricted foods as often as you can. This can be every Wednesday, 2x a week or as you feel fit comfortable attempting it.
Habituating foods can feel really uncomfortable, especially when you have put a food rule around this food. Sometimes these foods can be pizza on a Friday night and ONLY Friday night, pasta only when you go out to dinner, burgers only at barbecues, and so on. By adding these foods that are normally put off limits into your diet, you are understanding that food does not control you, rather you are in control of the food you eat.
No matter where you find yourself here, I have some tips for you to break the cycle or follow hunger cues to not go past your fullness cue:
• EAT MORE SENSIBLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY - balanced meals and consistent meal/snack times can prevent from extreme hunger and overdoing it when you finally have a certain food, or any food, in front of you.
• SLOW DOWN YOUR EATING CADENCE - eating too fast can prevent the signal from your gut to brain and vice versa to send your fullness cues. You should chew your food well enough, and give time in-between each bite, to be more mindful.
• AVOID DISTRACTIONS WHEN YOU EAT - eating in front of screens can distract us which doesn’t help us to be aware of our hunger or fullness cues. Stay present so you can stay aware of your eating cadence.
• DON’T PUT ANY FOODS OFF LIMITS - restricting foods, or food groups, can make you want them even more. By habituating your favorite foods into your daily diet and routine, you won’t have an itch to enjoy them more than usual, which results in overdoing it.
• BE MINDFUL OF STRESS AND EMOTIONS WHEN EATING - food is a coping mechanism that most people use. When your emotions are heightened, notice what you do first. Do you reach for food, and is this normally when you tend to overeat? Go for a walk, talk to a friend, read a book, drink some water, take a few deep breaths, then stop and notice if you really are still hungry or it was just a coping mechanism.
• FIND A FOOD TO HABITUATE and make it one that makes you feel good. For example, if you often feel out of control around pasta, opt for a brown rice quinoa or chickpea pasta. That will help to get over the initial hump of anxiety around eating pasta in the first place with reduced feelings of digestive discomfort, and then once you overcome that, you can graduate onto a traditional pasta.
• GIVE YOURSELF GRACE! You probably didn’t get to this point in 1 day, so don’t expect to unlearn it in 1 day. Sometimes we don’t know how we came to this place, but 99% of the time it is external or environmental pressures. As long as you are trying your best to overcome what you are feeling, you’re doing a great job!
Here are some resources I love that can help identify hunger and fullness cues:
• Hunger Fullness Scale by Alissa Rumsey
• Intuitive Eating - A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach
Want to kick food rules for good?! I love working with my clients on getting to the root of their food rules, and overcoming them together. Feel free to sign up for my Health Coaching Waitlist, where you will soon hear from me on an opportunity to work together!