Why giving yourself the permission to eat is especially important right now

We are going through some unprecedented stuff right now and I hope to reassure you that if you are experiencing an uptick in disordered eating, that is a completely normal response to anxious times we are going through.

As I've always said, giving yourself the permission to eat and not diet is so so so important, not only in the process of stopping binge eating, but also particularly at this difficult time. 

If you were like me, and showed up at the supermarket to be greeted by long queues just to get in and then frustrated by aisles of empty shelves, anxiety will probably have kicked in. You may often be faced with the question,"What can I eat?", "What am I going to eat?" or "Will I have enough to eat?"

In this situation, it's so useful to know that you have permission to eat literally anything that you like, or in this case, that is available to you. And yes, that includes the so-called "junk food" or "comfort food". 

Many are worried about what will happen if they give themselves the unconditional permission to eat, but here's why it works: 

Not giving yourself the permission (aka calling foods "bad", setting food rules etc.) to eat what you want is what drives binge eating behavior.

Society tells us that the reason we can't lose weight is that we don't have enough willpower and that's why we can't resist the temptations. 

Unfortunately, this is counterproductive for lots of people. They still end up eating the foods they're trying to ditch, but that's mostly when they succumb to the temptations. And this only perpetuate their binge-restrict cycle. 

On the other hand, if you give yourself the permission to have ALL foods, you don't have to worry about not being able to get your "safe foods". 

It is true that some people find themselves binging when they try to give themselves the unconditional permission to eat, but that's mostly because they don't know HOW to start.

That's why I recommend planning your meals and snacks in advance so that you know what to expect and don't feel out-of-control when you eat. 

I hope you’ll think about trying this for yourself.