Eating has, for most people, become a land mine of guilty feelings, guilt which drives most of our food choices, and often how we feel about ourselves in general. We have become a society of food fundamentalists with a black and white moralistic approach to our food choices. This fundamentalism manifests in what is called The Food Police in the Intuitive Eating Approach. The Food Police are the loud and destructive voices that heap criticism on us when we perceive ourselves to be less then perfect in our food choices. These Food Police have two units of operation, the voices that patrol our individual food choices, and a broader force evident in how we talk about food in popular culture….words and phrases like ‘sinful’ or ‘guiltless pleasure’.
Here is the description of this principle on the Intuitive Eating website:
4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud “NO” to thoughts in your head that declare you’re “good” for eating minimal calories or “bad” because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.
What has stuck with me since I first read Intuitive Eating years ago is the idea of turning the vitriol of the Food Police into a more helpful form of self-talk. Tribole and Resch suggested making space for what they call an inner Food Anthropologist– a neutral observer who offers a judgment-free acknowledgment of the facts and events in our day to day life, including what we eat and how we feel physically and emotionally. Neutrality and lack of judgements is a critical component of this inner guide, because we are looking for a way to engage in safe food exploration to help us make the link between the choices we make and their impact our bodies and day to day life. I’ve resonated with this metaphor and found it quite helpful over the years. Perhaps this is because I’ve always fancied myself a naturalist-type, and romanticize walking around with a notebook, spotting different species of birds and such while making insightful notations and drawings. My inner Anthropologist/Naturalist has been what has helped me reduce anxiety and acid reflux in my life by making adjustments such as taking in less coffee and switching to green tea in the afternoon. The inner Food Anthropologist is helpful in navigating food choices to support our health while at the same time honouring other needs such as taste and fulfillment. For instance, for some folks switching to a ‘light’ or ‘low-fat’ cheese end up feeling less satisfied, leading to grazing or extended snacking in order to find food fulfillment. Other folks can make such a switch and not feel deprived, so it is fine for them. An example from my life was the switch to almond milk, which for me works really well for smoothies and eating cereal. I quite enjoy almond milk in these instances, and do not feel deprived. However, when it comes to having milk or cream in my coffee or tea, only the real thing will do. Using almond, soy or other milk alternatives detracts from the enjoyment for me – leaving me unsatisfied. My Inner Anthropologist supported my discernment in these choices and I found the process very helpful.
During this Intuitive Eating summer refresher I have been reminded that the Food Anthropologist is just one of the positive voices that we can cultivate to support our journey to eating more intuitively. We can also work at moving our inner Nutrition Informant to a more helpful Nutrition Ally through the work done to banish the Food Police. The application of nutrition information is a vital, but tricky component of Intuitive Eating, because we have a strong tendency to morph nutritional information into rigid diet rules (espoused by the Nutrition Informant and Food Police). We know we have made a shift to an inner Nutrition Ally when health and nutrition information is paired with nourishment and pleasure, not punishment and deprivation.
It was also good to be reminded of the inner Diet Rebel, because the ‘Diet Rebel’ force is strong within me! Frankly, nothing makes me want to dive into a bucket of ice cream more then being told I can’t or shouldn’t have it. This inner ‘eff-it’ and ‘eff-you’ goes beyond eating to any outside imposed ‘shoulds’ we often hear for our health and well-being. Most recently public health campaigns against the so-called evils of sitting are an example of this (did you know “sitting is the new smoking!?”). In my mind, there is a difference in fostering spaces where movement and standing is available and encouraged versus telling me ‘sitting is bad for you’ with a barley disguised finger wag. This tongue-clucking kind of approach feeds into the ‘good/bad’ dichotomy and my inner rebel tends to engage when I hear it. I almost feel like sitting all day in rebellion. Seriously. But, the Diet Rebel can be morphed into a more helpful Rebel Ally – a form of self talk that allows us to tap into and speak our truth. Fostering the Rebel Ally will help us, for instance to tell Aunt Petunia that her commentary on our weight or food choices is unhelpful and unwelcome. Now, instead of eating a big bag of Doritos as a middle finger behind her back we tell her straight up how we feel and what we need. Or, as in my case when it comes to the ‘sitting is the new smoking’ phenomena, I can rant about it here on my blog and continue to get up and stand during meetings when my body needs it. I can rebel in ways that support my efforts for health and well-being, not sabotage them.
There is much more packed into this principle and helpful information available in the Intuitive Eating Book, If you have not already, I encourage you to give it a read. Work to shift our self-talk from punitive and destructive to supportive and nurturing can play a huge role in improving our relationship with food, and our bodies.
Self Reflective Questions:
As you consider the idea of Challenging the Food Police and what it means in your own life to shift your inner dialogue/self talk consider:
- What do you notice? What is your self-talk like, what are the strong voices you hear, especially when it comes to food and eating?
- What do you feel? What emotions arise for you when reflect on your self talk?
- What does it mean? How would shifting your self talk to more helpful Allies like a Food Anthropologist and Rebel Alley impact your day to day Life?
- What will you do? What are some concrete actions you can take shift your self talk?
Thank you for reading. Next week we are moving on to exploring Principe #5: Respect Your Fullness. I hope you will join me!