Disarm Your Trigger Foods
Can you guess the most popular trigger food amongst individuals in the Food Body Self community?
I’ll give you a minute to think.
As for my triggers, over the course of the 15+ years I spent emotional eating and binge eating, I encountered many: pasta, ice cream, protein bars, Nutella, Pop Tarts, cereal, bite-sized candy bars...
And those are just the first ones that come to mind.
(By the way, the most commonly cited trigger food in the Food Body Self community is Oreos.)
I used to think the combination of a) the deliciousness of certain foods and b) my lack of willpower were the reasons I kept going overboard on the portion sizes of select treats.
But I now know that neither palatability (the enjoyment factor) nor lack of self-control were what led to repetitive overeating episodes.
And if you find yourself struggling to stop overeating certain foods, I want you to know that the same is true in your case: food isn’t the problem, and neither are you.
Here are the true culprits:
The first problem that contributes to a loss of control around food is your restriction of the food, and the second problem is using the food as a source of self-soothing.
Let’s break those down and see what the next steps are to disarm your trigger foods.
Problem #1
The sheer act of restricting a certain food can increase your cravings for it. Additionally, much of the time when we restrict trigger foods, we’re also trying to lose weight, which means restricting your overall intake of food. When you’re in a caloric deficit, that state in and of itself can increase cravings for highly palatable foods—which can then become your trigger foods.
Thus, the easy answer is: stop restricting your trigger foods.
But the hard answer is also: stop restricting your trigger foods.
The reason this solution is difficult for many people is because of fear. Primarily, the fear of keeping the food around, thus leading to overeating, as well as the fear that you’ll gain weight because of overeating the food.
And those are both valid fears. But I’m not trying to scare you off the process of improving your relationship with food.
Because here’s the deal: you can either keep living in this never-ending cycle of restriction and overeating, or you can do something different.
When you begin to reintroduce foods you’re accustomed to overeating, yes, there is a possibility that you will overeat them.
But giving yourself permission to eat WITHOUT all the negative self-talk is a different experience from eating foods while berating yourself for doing so, and regretting the action afterward.
The guilt, remorse, and self-criticism are what fuel the overeating more than the food itself.
When you take off the handcuffs and allow yourself to eat, former trigger foods will eventually lose their charisma. Rather than placing foods on a pedestal and feeling powerless in their presence, you’ll be able to look at them as any other food, and the cravings will die down.
Problem #2
Trigger foods are most commonly eaten as a source of comfort rather than a permissible treat. The purpose they serve is as a release of restriction, de-stressing after a long day, procrastination, soothing a myriad of uncomfortable feelings, and so on.
We develop an emotional attachment to them that can feel similar to dependence. These foods have reliably made us feel better in the past, and our brains remember that experience vividly.
But here’s why that’s not as problematic as it sounds:
The pattern of using food as a coping mechanism for difficult emotions is a habit.
And habits can be broken.
To learn new, healthy coping mechanisms so that you can self-soothe without food, there are three primary areas for you to focus on: mindfulness, your emotions, and your thoughts.
When you stop blaming your willpower for your food choices and start examining where those choices come from, you will finally be able to make changes to your behavior that have left you feeling stuck and disappointed with yourself for years.
That’s why mindfulness, emotions, and mindset are the three pillars of our Food Body Self® program, which not only teaches you how to stop overeating, but how to feel comfortable and confident in your body, and to treat yourself as a friend rather than an enemy.
Your Next Steps
When it comes to removing the restriction and giving yourself permission to eat, here are three strategies you can try:
Have a healthy, filling meal, and then purposefully and intentionally eat your trigger food afterwards.
Deliberately eat your trigger food several days in a row. If you eat more than you intend to before you get through the final day, go out and get more.
Savor the heck out of it. Pay attention to every sensory experience: the sight, the smell, the sound (like unwrapping a package, or a satisfying crunch), the flavors, temperature, texture—all of it. Be as present as possible and go as deeply into the experience as you can.
The process of learning new, healthy coping mechanisms so that you can self-soothe without food goes beyond the scope of this article, but if you’d like to find out more, I invite you to check out our Food Body Self® curriculum.
And one final bonus tip: whatever it is that you really enjoy eating, stop calling it a trigger food. The term “trigger food” insinuates that you don’t have control—that the food has power over you. It may feel that way, but you CAN get to the bottom of why you’ve been eating more than you’ve intended by ending the restriction and developing healthy coping mechanisms for uncomfortable emotions.
Remember: food is not the problem, and you are not the problem. Habits and mindsets can be changed, and you can feel normal around ALL foods.