Hi Friends!
In this blog, I am here to talk to you about Naughty and Nice foods. The holidays are here and so are allllll the treats and eats! I even caught myself thinking “man, I have eaten less nutritionally dense foods and more caloric dense foods.” Okay, maybe I said “wow, you’ve eaten like shit lately Nik, you need to focus up.”
We all have moments where we notice maybe not all our foods have been the greatest, it’s the holidays remember! However, it’s not so easy to have one thought and then let it go. Some times those thoughts linger with us, making us feel shame, or uncontrolled with what we deem as a “naughty” food, also known as a fear food. These “naughty” foods are typically labelled as naughty because they do fall in that calorically dense food category, which really triggers some individuals fears.
Fears come in all shapes and sizes-some fear heights, some fear elevators, some fear snakes or spiders, some fear the unknown, and some fear foods. Like any fear, avoiding the fear only perpetuates the fear. Let’s say that again, avoiding the fear only perpetuates the fear. WHAT?! How do you overcome fear? You guessed it, you have to face the fear or with food, you have to become “exposed” to it.
Exposure to foods take time. It is a skill that you begin to master until the fear melts away. Fear foods do not limit themselves to one food, it’s typically a range of foods. People fear these foods for different reasons such as fear of weight gain, calorically dense, feeling guilt, shame or uncontrollable around them. Exposure to you fear foods is scary. You will feel stressed, scared, and anxious. This reaction is completely normal when you are facing a fear!
Since the holidays are upon us, you may be exposed to several fear foods at once, which will increase your anxiety about being around these foods. If you know you’re going to a holiday dinner with family and you would like to feel less anxious around these foods try these 4 steps:
Step 1: Make a list
Make a list of the foods that you fear over the holiday season. Organize this list from naughty to nice (see what I did there)
Step 2: Pick a food to expose
Pick a food on the naughty list, remove any distractions around you except maybe a support person. Everyone needs a hype man (or woman).
Step 3: Use your senses
Before you bite into the naughty food, uses your senses. See it, smell it, touch it, now take a bite. Taste it and hear it as you chew. What did you notice about it? What thoughts came flooding to your mind?
Step 4: Mindfully Eat
This part might be the hardest part because now you let the thoughts that flooded your mind once you took a bite to just come in and flow out. You don’t focus on the thoughts, you let it come and go like a beach wave. Now take another bite, let your mind be free in the moment. What happened now? The same thing? New thoughts? Or nothing? Are you still in one piece? Did you gain weight? Did the food hurt you? Or did you feel a tiny bit of satisfaction because you faced a fear?
Reminder: this doesn’t have to only be directed toward holiday eating, this is for everyday eating. The holidays seem to increase the exposure to fear foods because we cannot always control what will be made or brought of the holidays; however, working on exposing yourself to your food fears will help decrease the anxiety around showing up to social events. Again, it’s not easy but with the right support you can overcome your fears!