How to Decrease Anxiety with Food
First, you’re not alone. A lot of people feel anxious around food. The trouble is, the “fix” to this is not what many have been doing.
Do:
Eat consistently every 3-4 hours
Include carbohydrates, dietary fat, and protein at all your meals
Incorporate previously forbidden foods into your meals and snacks
Allow yourself to eat snack
Don’t:
Go long periods of time without eating
Avoid whole food groups especially carbohydrates
Avoid foods you feel anxious about
Obviously there are many ways to decrease anxiety with food. Remember eating your fear foods is a must. The trick is…
You need to eat the food consistently…and actually change your belief about the food.
Yes, truly believing the food is not bad.
More on how to decrease anxiety around food
You’re not alone. A lot of people feel anxious around food. It’s actually one of the things I see most often in my office.
You have probably tried to avoid the food all together, not bring the food into your house, only have a small amount of food, moderate yourself in some way, or create “healthy” alternatives.
In the end you really can’t avoid the food completely so you still feel anxious around the food and the anxiety is actually increasing the more your try to restrict it.
So what if I told you you actually need to do the opposite?
In order to decrease anxiety with food you need to eat the food. Over and over and over again. Expose yourself to the food in different ways until the anxiety starts to decrease. Then continue to keep the food in your normal rotation.
Eating the food is an important part, but you also have to change your beliefs about the food in the process. Try to find the value in the food. What does this food do for you? Does it provide you with carbohydrates, dietary fat, protein, or vitamins and minerals? or perhaps it provides you joy or something more emotional. Both are valid reasons to eat a food.
Remember there is no one food that is going to save you or hurt you. It’s really about your whole relationship with food.
If you are interested in working with one of our dietitians on decreasing your anxiety with food please click the button below to schedule an appointment.
Eating disorders impact the entire family system, and while so much of the treatment process is focused on the client, the caregivers tend to struggle at home with minimal support. Join Dallas Nutritional Counseling for a two-hour parent workshop, where we will bridge the gap between what the client needs and what the family needs. In this workshop you will gain a deeper understanding of the vital role you play in the recovery process, connect with other families going through the recovery process, and feel more confident in supporting your loved one. We will also be joined by Hila Eyal whose daughter struggled with an eating disorder and now is in recovery. Hila will share their family story of how they navigated the recovery process at the beginning, in the middle, and now ongoing.