Do You Feel "Out of Control" Around Food?

Have you ever felt out of control around food? It can be really easy to blame the food itself or an ingredient in the food for causing all the feelings. However, have you ever taken a good look at why you might feel this way? Could it be that… you didn’t eat enough earlier in the day or in the previous day? you did extra physical activity? there are rules or negative thoughts associated with the food in question?

We must remember that an underfed body will crave food in a primal way until needs are met. For example, when I work with new moms, they often tell me that they feel out of control around sweets in the evening. When we take a step back and look at their day, many times there isn’t a real meal in sight until the baby goes to bed in the evening. How can we expect to feel calm around food when are needs aren’t being met? Craving sweets is one of our body’s built in mechanisms for survival. Glucose is the brain’s fuel source and we get it from eating carbs. Our body is so smart that it will crave carbs when we miss out on them.

In fact, the landmark Minnesota Starvation Study conducted in the late 40’s is prime example of this. The men enrolled in the study developed preoccupations with food that they did not previously have when they were subjected to a voluntary calorie restriction. In a short period of time, they developed disordered eating behaviors, including binging and sneaking foods.

So, one of the best ways to begin feeling more in control around food is to remove the rules and get adequate nourishment throughout the day. This may require the help of a professional.

Want to assess your relationship with food? Take the Intuitive Eating Assessment and I’ll personally reply with results.