COLUMN: Overcoming food fear/anxiety and learning to love your food again

Whilst food and the eating experience is loved by most, food anxiety or food fear is also quite common.

This can come about for many reasons such as food appearance, food texture, having not tried certain foods before, food anxiety as well as other psychological reasons.

Here nutritionist Laurann O’Reilly and owner of Nutrition By Laurann aims to teach us how to overcome some of these fears or anxieties and how to learn to love your food again.

Step 1)
Identifying Your Relationship With Food:
Before you can change how you feel about food, it’s important to identify your current relationship. This doesn’t always depend just on the quality of your diet or the types of food you eat, but rather how and why you choose the foods you eat and some of the patterns around this.

Signs of an Unhealthy Food Relationship
* Feeling guilty about eating.
* Ignoring your body’s natural hunger cues.
* You have a history of yo-yo dieting or following the latest diet fads.
* Feeling immense stress and anxiety when eating in social settings due to fear of what others may think of your food choices.
* Excessive restricting and/or bingeing food.

Remember you don’t have to experience all of these signs, but it’s important to be aware of any feelings of stress, guilt or shame around food. The goal of building a good relationship with food is to have more positive experiences with food and understanding that food is nourishing and to be enjoyed.

Step 2)
Identifying a good relationship with food:
A good relationship with food is like any other relationship, taking time, practice and patience. It’s important to understand that your relationship with food goes deeper than fuelling your body as it can involve the social aspect (eating out or enjoying meals with family and friends) as well as occasions, celebrations, cultural and traditional sides too.

Signs of a Healthy Food Relationship:
* Eating for nourishment and energy
* Listening and respecting your body’s natural hunger cues.
* Eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full
* Not obsessing over the number on the scale.
* Enjoying all food in moderation.
* Choosing foods that make you feel good – I call this ‘the nutritional click’
*When calorie counting isn’t the sole focus of your food choices.

Step 3)
How To Start Learning To Love Your Food Again:
The great thing about this is the power is in your hands. Of course, everyone has a unique relationship with food and you may need to take it slow and steady, but with the right strategies and in your own time it’s possible to change this relationship and learn to love your food again.

1. Food Is Your Friend: This is the first step in understanding that food is not only safe but that it can provide us with so many benefits. This includes energy to get through our busy days, nutrients that help build new cells, keeping us strong and maintaining a healthy immune system. If we go a little deeper, certain foods have healing properties too! As I always say, it’s really become my motto at this stage, “every meal is an opportunity to nourish”.

2. Give Yourself Permission To Eat: It’s important to fit in a range of healthy nutritious food throughout the day, so you should never feel guilty for eating good quality ingredients and foods that your body needs and that improve your overall health.

3. Understanding Your Hunger & Satiety Cues: Whilst everyone is born with the natural ability to regulate their hunger (you can see this with children, who can easily tell when they’re hungry or full). This feeling of fullness is called ‘satiety’, which can feel like a sense of satisfaction and that we’ve eaten enough. As we get older, we often lose the ability to sense hunger and satiety for a number of reasons such as busy lives and stress.

- Tip 1. It’s Okay not tocClear your plate): Learn that it’s okay not to finish your plate of food if you’re feeling full.

- Tip 2. Finishing eating when you are full): Your stomach has a maximum capacity, if you feel you can’t fit extra food or a dessert, perhaps give it a skip, your tummy will thank you.

4. Learning To Mindfully Eat: This is one of the most important steps in building your new relationship with food. Remember eating is a sensory experience, involving our eyes, smell, taste, touch and texture.

- Tip 1. Avoiding Distraction): Remove all distractions, such as your phone, the TV or laptop, this allows you to fully engage in the eating experience. Otherwise, you are ‘passively eating’.

- Tip 2. Food Focus): Choose a range of foods with fragrant tastes and smells and take the time to make gentle observations, such as the taste and texture of the food, how your hunger and fullness cues change as well as your enjoyment of the food.

- Tip 3. Slow Down): Learning to slow down and savour your food can help you learn which foods you genuinely enjoy and also become more in tune with your body’s natural hunger and fullness regulation. It can also be a valuable tool in helping you identify the reasons for your food choices

- Tip 4. Mindful Eating Questions): While you eat, try to answer some of these questions: Whilst some of these questions might be difficult and hard to address. Writing your thoughts down in a journal may be helpful. The key is to answer these questions without judgment and instead with a curious mind. Over time, these observations can help you identify the reasons for your food choices.

- What flavour, texture and smells am I noticing right now?
- Am I enjoying it?
- Am I only eating it because it’s available, or because I’m hungry? and does this food hit the spot? Does it satisfy the craving I’m having?
- Has this food solved a problem like I may have thought it would?
- How is this food changing my appetite? Do I notice my hunger going away?
- How do I emotionally feel while I eat this? Does it bring me joy, guilt, anger?
- Was I actually hungry? If not, why did I decide to eat (e.g., emotional eating, cravings, boredom)?

5. Establish A Routine: It’s important to remember that the body loves routine, whether it’s for sleep (going to bed and waking at the same time) or eating at the same time. When it comes to your eating routine, aim to eat undisturbed without any distractions. This includes setting time aside throughout the day to focus on your food, eating slowly and allowing your body to digest your food properly, taking your mindful eating into your everyday life.

6. Allow Yourself The Odd Treat: Depriving yourself of certain foods or treats can often end up in you wanting them more. If you have a healthy clean diet along with regular physical activity, it’s perfectly fine to have the odd and occasional treat, be it once a week or a couple of times a month, once it’s not occasionally all the time, I call this “occasionally syndrome”.

7. When To Seek Professional Help: A person’s relationship with food isn’t always straightforward and sometimes help and guidance is needed to help them through. This is totally normal and I know that you are not on your own. Getting professional support and guidance can help you transform your relationship with food and overall health. Feel free to contact me through the contact details below or your GP who can also provide you with guidance.