E19 - Food Freedom or Free for All

Welcome to the Mindful Balance Mini Podcast.

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Hey there, welcome back.

This is episode 19, and today I want to talk with

you about the difference between food

freedom and what I like to call free-for-all

approach to eating.

So through my work as a coach, I have seen many

women struggle with this concept because

so many of us are used to swing like a pendulum

between strict dieting and unrestricted eating.

And I think that the most common thoughts and

feelings that come up with the topic of

food freedom is the fear that there are only

really two options, either restrict or go

for free-for-all all the way on the other

direction.

So let's start by clearing the air around some

common myths about food freedom so that

we are super clear about what it actually means,

what it looks like in real life, and

how do you get to experience that freedom when

you start from a place of only knowing

how to be restrictive and follow plans that

likely someone else gave you.

The first myth is that food freedom means unrest

ricted eating.

And this perhaps is the biggest misconception.

Food freedom isn't about eating anything and

everything without a second thought.

I know this is such a common belief and it is not

true.

Food freedom isn't about eating anything and

everything without a second thought.

It is more about making choices that truly honor

your body's needs without guilt and

without the restrictions imposed by diet culture.

And it's really more about the balance between

saying yes to a birthday cake because it's

fun and it's part of the celebration and choosing

to eat a salad because that's maybe what your

body craves at that moment.

The second myth is that food freedom means giving

up on your healthy goals or on healthy

eating.

And I'm going to say that it is absolutely not

what it means.

Food freedom doesn't mean that you abandon

healthy eating or that you eat all day every

day or that you basically no longer care about

what you're eating.

Instead, food freedom is more about understanding

that a healthy lifestyle isn't just about

the nutritional value of what we eat, but also

about the parts of it that are emotional

and psychological and relate to your relationship

with food.

It's about letting go of this binary thinking,

this black and white or good and bad foods

and understanding that really all foods can fit

into a balanced diet and a balanced lifestyle.

And that leads me to myth number three, which is

once you achieve food freedom, you won't

struggle with food choices again.

As much as I wish that this was true, food

freedom isn't a one-time achievement.

It's not a milestone that you have to hit and

that's it, you're done.

It's more of a practice because it's really

normal to have days where you struggle more

with food choices and different days are going to

look differently and how your body feels

and responds will also look differently.

The key is approaching these days and moments

with compassion and understanding and taking

it as an opportunity to learn to continue and

grow in your food freedom journey.

So many times we have this need to fix problems

that actually don't even exist.

Food bringing you comfort is normal.

Feeling hungry when you haven't eaten a good

balanced meal is normal.

When we label some of these behaviors as

challenges or we look at it as having an issue or

a problem,

we spend so much time trying to problem solve

something that doesn't even exist.

And we have to expect that there will be ups and

downs in this journey.

It is part of being a human being and it is

normal.

So what is true food freedom?

In my practice, I define it as the ability to

make food choices that align with your

body's needs, values, and enjoyment without being

influenced by external diet rules or

internal guilt.

It is where you eat with intention and attention

and turn into your body's hunger and fullness

cues and respect what your body needs.

And that by the way, looks different on different

days and for different people.

It also means that my alignment with food may

look very different than yours, which

is why it is crucial that we look inside instead

of looking for a quote unquote prescription

of what to eat and when to eat.

And I know that for some of you, this idea of

space and exploration in trying to figure

out what food freedom is for you can be very

scary.

I know that.

We feel more comfortable with someone giving us a

step-by-step roadmap of how to live with

food freedom and what to eat and how do we

implement it.

And I get it.

We don't want to do it wrong and we are scared of

failing, especially if we have lots of

experiences in the past of not being able to

achieve our goals.

And we don't trust ourselves not to go and eat

all the things.

I really fundamentally understand that feeling,

that concern of not doing it correctly.

If this is how you are feeling, and you are also

worried about going into this whole free

for all, I want to tell you how food freedom is

different than this free for all approach.

So think about food freedom as a dialogue with

your body where you are both the speaker

and the listener.

You are aware of what you eat, why you eat it,

and how it makes you feel.

A free for all approach is like having a mon

ologue where eating decisions are made without

paying

attention, often really leading to this physical

discomfort.

And then on top of that, lots of emotional

distress.

The free in freedom doesn't mean free to eat

whatever, whenever.

At its core, food freedom is about freedom from

rigid food rules.

It's about freedom from guilt and fear and

confusion that are surrounding your food choices.

This freedom is like taking a breath of fresh air

in a room that's been closed off for too

long.

It's about the satisfaction of enjoying a family

meal when the thoughts about food are

taking all your mental space.

It feels so heavy and so unbearable.

So instead, I want to offer you this freedom that

is about trusting yourself and listening

to your body and honoring your needs, both

physically and emotionally.

In this space, it is the freedom to really live

fully and eat with joy and enjoy in a

way that is sustainable and balanced and deeply

fulfilling a whole entire different life

experience.

Now it is essential to mention how nuanced food

freedom can be, because it can be very

subtle in what it looks like from the outside

compared to traditional dieting.

So at first glance, if you look at someone who's

practicing food freedom, they might

seem to follow typical diet rules.

For example, you can choose a salad over a burger

, let's say at lunch.

To someone from the outside, this might seem like

a classic diet choice driven by calorie

counting or food restriction or just thinking

that this is what I should be eating.

However, the real difference lies in the way that

you think in your mindset.

In a dieting mindset, you might choose the salad

out of a sense of obligation or fear

of gaining weight or guilt over bad food choices.

Your decision would be rooted in external rules,

leading you to feel and think like,

oh, I wish I could have it, but I need to be good

and therefore I'm going to only order

the salad.

This right here is what creates a negative

emotional relationship with food, where choices,

the choices that you make are driven by

restriction instead of choices.

Now if we shift the entire perspective, you

choose the salad because you genuinely want

it.

Maybe you want just a lighter meal.

The decision of yours is a result of what your

body needs.

There's no guilt involved.

If you occasionally, let's say crave and you do

want a burger instead of the salad, the

difference is that your choices are rooted in

self-awareness and a desire for balance

and wellbeing and not in external rules or

restrictions or someone telling you that it's

better to have.

Self-reliant freedom is so powerful because it

places trust back right into your hands.

It allows you to be the expert on your own body

and your body's needs.

And I know that this is scary and especially if

you have a long history of lack of trust,

but you can build that trust just like you don't

negotiate with your body on other things

like going to the bathroom or needing to sleep.

Imagine if every time you felt that you had to go

to the bathroom, you would start putting

labels on it like I should be going or I shouldn

't go, but I already went an hour ago.

It sounds so silly.

But your body does have a way of communicating

with you.

It tells you when to wear a sweater when it is

cold outside or when you need to stretch

and just move a little bit.

Your body will tell you what it needs and you

need to let go of the idea that you or

someone else knows better, like that your brain

knows better than what your physical

body needs.

And that is really it at the core of it.

Building that trust and building the trust with

yourself that you can listen and pay

attention to what your body needs is a giant

piece in achieving food freedom.

Now, of course, unfortunately, we can't get into

how to do it.

It is not so complicated, but there is really so

much that we can cover in one episode.

But I do want to leave you with an analogy that I

think will be so helpful for you in

trying to find what food freedom is for you and

how you can find your unique balance.

So instead of talking about food, I want to talk

for just a few seconds about money.

Think of food freedom as managing a budget.

Just as healthy financial behavior doesn't mean

that you either spend all your money

without any thoughts or saving or any

consideration of the future or the other side of

it, saving

every penny without ever enjoying it.

So food freedom really strikes a similar balance

with eating.

Like with money, there are so many more options

than just being either overly restricted with

your budget where you really deny yourself any of

the pleasures that money can buy.

No dining out, no going on vacation, no buying a

new pair of boots.

And on the other hand, using your money to buy

anything and everything on a whim without

ever considering your actual needs or your future

goals financially.

Just like different people, different family

units have different balances with money,

you can also find your definition of balance and

peace with food.

You will figure out how to make this work for you

, even if it may feel uncomfortable

at first to let go of food rules.

I read somewhere a long time ago that discomfort

is the currency of our dreams.

And I love it so much.

And that's where I want to leave you with today.

I want you to get uncomfortable.

I want you to challenge your thoughts that haven

't helped you.

I want you to feel uncomfortable, to experiment

with what food freedom means for you.

All right, have a wonderful week and go out there

and try new things.

If the old things aren't working for you, try

something new.

You showed up today and you showed up for

yourself and that says so much about you.

So take that with you.

Until next time, take care.

Bye.

Thank you for tuning in to the Mindful Balance

Podcast today.

I hope you enjoyed our conversation and find

inspiration to find your unique balance and

confidence.

Remember that the journey continues on Instagram.

You can find me at Rachel Emma Nutrition.

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ease.

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Until next time, take care and stay mindful.

Bye.

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