How To Overcome Fear Foods: Ways To Fearless Eating
Unlocking the Mystery: What Exactly are Fear Foods, and Do You Have One?
The term ‘fear foods’ is commonly used in the treatment of eating disorders.
These are foods or entire food groups that are often perceived as “unsafe”, frightening, and anxiety-provoking by those suffering from an eating disorder.
Fear foods vary from person to person depending on individual experiences, beliefs, and culture and can essentially be anything.
Commonly, these foods have been demonized by diet cultures, such as those high in carbohydrates, fats, and calories.
However, as mentioned before, any food item can be perceived as a fear.
Common Fear Foods:
- Pasta, bread, potatoes, rice
- Pizza, Cheese, avocado, burgers
- Bananas and grapes (yes also Fruit)
- Sweets (especially cake and ice cream)
- Sauces
- Recipes with lots of ingredients
Determining if you have a fear can be difficult. Which is why I have created a list of questions that you can ask yourself:
- Do you avoid a food group or item?
- Do you have any negative thoughts regarding it?
- How do you feel when you are faced with it?
- Do you have strict rules that you follow? For example, do you have a set time in which you are allowed to eat it, or do you control how much and how frequently you consume it?
- Do you get an uncomfortable feeling or a feeling of guilt after eating it?
- Does it make you anxious?
- Do you find yourself categorizing foods as either good or bad?
These questions can help determine if you fear food or engaging with restrictions.
This list also demonstrates that fear foods are not exclusive to individuals with eating disorders; anyone can experience them.
Fear foods can come in the form of a diet. Diets often involve restrictive eating habits, which can lead to avoidance of certain foods. This avoidance may then result in the development of a fear of food.
The Truth Behind Diets: Nourishment, Brain Health, and Finding Balance
Diets have grown in meaning in the world we live in today. Almost half of the American population (44%) are currently following a diet, and about 80% have followed a diet in the past. Furthermore, around 9.3% of people are on a weight-loss or low-calorie diet.
However, many overlook the risk of malnourishment when restricting food groups.
The real diet for someone with an eating disorder is learning to nourish their body, mind, and soul with kindness, acceptance, and understanding
When the brain doesn’t get the sufficient nutrition it needs to function, it begins to switch off. This can happen without the individual realizing that it is happening.
When the brain starts to switch off, we become unable to make the right decisions. The more fixated we become on restrictive eating, the harder it becomes to break free from its grips.
However, depending on the person, a diet can also have a positive effect on one’s health.
For example, when recovering from obesity, the person requires rewiring their brain, to understand the nutrition sufficient for their body. They are on a journey to build a healthy relationship with food again and regularly start moving their body in the way that feels right to them.
Every healthy choice you make rewires your brain to prioritize well-being over cravings — unknown
Another example is the Mediterranean diet, widely regarded as the healthiest diet worldwide. It consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole foods, fish, and nuts. It offers significant benefits for heart health and overall mortality.
Embracing the Mediterranean diet means nourishing your body with the freshest, most vibrant ingredients nature has to offer
In my opinion, restricting any food isn’t the way forward unless it has specific health benefits for the individual.
Life is too short not to enjoy everything in moderation, as everything can be healthy when consumed in appropriate amounts. Especially when recovering from an eating disorder.
No food is more unhealthy than your eating disorder → Ro Mitchell
You can find her YouTube account here. (I highly recommend watching her content!)
How I Overcame My Fear Foods in Hospital
When I was first admitted to the hospital, COVID-19 had just broken out. At the time, the hospital where I stayed wasn’t accepting many patients due to staffing shortages and an overwhelming workload of new COVID patients who needed care.
They hardly cared about my health, as I didn’t have any visible injuries, and would shove a plate of food in front of me, expecting me to eat everything. I feared everything, so of course, nothing was easy.
Before hospitalisation, my diet consisted of pea soup, Brussels sprouts, and peppermint tea. I was the Grinch on a green diet.
Being in the hospital meant that I had to face proper meals again. However, the options were limited and not exactly appetizing. Dinner, in my opinion, was the worst.
The only available choices were limited to three meals: sloppy pasta bolognese, a hard jacket potato with cold beans, or a rubbery omelette. These meals were far from ideal for someone trying to rebuild a healthy relationship with food.
Over a few days, these meals became easier to eat.
My First Fear Foods
One thing that I really struggled with in the beginning was eating bread. The mere mention, smell, or sight of it would trigger intense emotions, leaving me in tears.
As the word couldn’t even be mentioned around me, my dad, who stayed with me at the time, would say the letter “b” instead. Surprisingly, I found this substitution much easier to hear. This shortening of words became our thing over the next few years.
However, nothing scared me more than eating anything with sugar. This fear still follows me to this day!
At the time, my favourite YouTuber was a raw vegan nutritionist who advocated for a diet free from sugar, gluten, and anything else considered ‘unhealthy’. I admired her greatly and even had the opportunity to have a meal plan created by her. However, she discouraged me from changing my diet to match hers, knowing it could have negative effects on my health, as I was already at the downward fall of my eating disorder.
The fear of sugar is something that I still fear to this day, only eating it when found in foods that I love, for example, in my chocolate Muesli that I eat every other day or my absolute favourite chocolate bar of all time Nucao.
How to overcome these fears, and what happens when you do?
You have to challenge them every day, or as often as possible.
The more you eat them, the easier it will get. The thought of eating that particular food every day may seem impossible at first, but trust me, over time your brain will rewire itself to realise that nothing bad will happen if you eat that particular food.
This is a thought that many of us struggle with — the fear that eating it will lead to negative consequences. For me, it was the belief that this particular food would cause rapid weight gain that I wouldn’t be able to control. But did that happen?… The answer is NO!
In the battle against fear, victory is won by facing it head-on, every single day
What happened instead?
Absolutely nothing. I felt shite, of course, but did anything immediately change with my physical appearance? No.
Did it harm my health? No.
Did I die from it? And the answer is still no.
Instead, I benefited greatly from it. Challenging your fear food is one step closer to freedom, happiness, and a fulfilling life.
Your worth is not determined by the foods you eat. Challenging fear foods is an act of self-love and defiance against your eating disorder
In the journey of recovery from fear foods and eating disorders, remember that there is always hope for the life you want to achieve. Your worth is never determined by the foods you eat or the challenges you face.
It’s a reflection of your inner strength, resilience, and unwavering determination to thrive in life.
With every bite you take, you are gaining back control and kicking your eating disorders a*s. Embrace each victory, no matter how small, and continue to prioritize your health and well-being.
You are stronger than you know, and you deserve a life filled with freedom, happiness, and fulfillment. Keep pushing forward, and never underestimate the power of your resilience. You’ve got this!
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