At the beginning of a person’s intuitive eating journey, we hear time and time again about this initial fear of having that unconditional permission to eat all of the foods. “I’m just going to eat all the food, all the time”. That is a valid fear!
We know that restriction fuels binging. After we have deprived ourselves for so long, allowing yourself food that has been off limits for so long can lead to binging. But that’s what diet culture has trained us to do! When you’re not on a diet, you binge. When you come back onto a diet, you’re not allowed to have those foods anymore.
When we talk about restrictions vs food preferences, it’s important to know that there are two different types of restriction:
- Physical Restriction
This can look like “I’m not allowed to eat donuts” and you don’t allow yourself to eat any donuts.
- Mental Restriction
This one is a bit more tricky. This can look like “I’m not restricting. I’m eating donuts”. However there’s a voice in your head after you eat the donuts saying “you shouldn’t have had that” or “you’re a bad person for eating that”. While physically you are allowing yourself the food, mentally and emotionally you are putting that food off limits.
Now let’s talk about the great cheese cream scandal of TikTok because this is a great example of a food preference, not restriction.
In case you missed it, I posted a video where I’m eating a bagel with cream cheese and I say “just a friendly reminder, you can eat a bagel with cream cheese on a Saturday morning and feel no guilt or shame.” You can watch the video HERE. Well, people went crazy over the amount of cream cheese I put on my bagel. So much so that the video went viral and the story was picked up by @dietstartstomorrow and @betches.
But back to the bagel…I had a certain amount of cream cheese on there that I felt was what I wanted. That is what I enjoy. It is what I like. It is my preference. I wasn’t doing it to have less calories or reduce my portions. This was me simply having a greater liking for one alternative over another.
So how do we know what is a food preference or a food restriction? It all comes down to the intention behind your food choice. If it comes back to shrinking our body, or eating less, or eating less calories – that is not a preference, that is a restriction.
The wonderful thing about your preferences is that they are allowed to change! With every day, month, year that passes by your taste preferences can change. But only you can answer the question of ”‘what is the intention behind your choices?”
If you enjoyed this blog, you may be interested in my other post: How to Reject the Diet Mentality
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