Have you ever finished a big meal feeling so stuffed that you couldn’t possibly take another bite, and then before you realized what was happening, someone offered you dessert? And even though you were uncomfortably full, no matter how hard you tried to control it, you found yourself digging into the sweets.
With the holidays right around the corner, I figured it was time to talk about food FOMO. Food FOMO, aka the “fear of missing out” around food, has nothing to do with genuine hunger.
When I was in the height of my food crazies, I used to have major FOMO around food.
If someone else was having desert and I wasn’t, I felt deprived.
If someone else was eating an extra large popcorn at the movies, I needed one too.
If everyone else was getting pizza, then pizza was all I could think about.
It is wild just how much of a social and emotional power food has over us. I used to live in a constant state of anxiety and scarcity when it came to eating, all of which I was creating through my own mind.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having that extra desert every now and then, even if you are already full. After all, you are only human. The problem is when you find opportunities for “missing out” on food every single day. When you constantly feel left out when you are trying to eat healthy. When you feel like it isn’t fair that so-and-so can eat that ice cream and you can’t.
Here’s the thing- the only time you are going to feel like you are missing out on a particular food is when you are restricting it.
“Eat this, don’t eat that” doesn’t work well in the long run. You don’t need more willpower or self-control. In fact, when you make foods forbidden, you put them on a pedestal and give them power. Your inner rebel then surfaces and wants that forbidden food more than anything else.
This restriction mentality leaves so many women feeling out of control around food. They feel like they have a “problem with food”, when in reality their problem is with their mindset around food.
Working on how you THINK about food is what is going to make all the difference for you.
First of all, stop making foods forbidden. Take your power back. Give yourself a choice. If you find yourself in a situation where everyone around you is eating cake and you want some, go ahead and eat it. But before you do, I want you to take a deep breath, ground down into your body, and check in with yourself. Ask yourself if that is truly what you are craving in that moment. Remind yourself that you can eat cake on any given day, at any given time if you want to. No big deal!
If after doing this, you find that you still want the cake, then go for it. But I want you to really give yourself permission to eat it. Make a conscious choice to eat the cake, guilt free! I want you to sit down at the table, with no distractions, and savor it. Notice the textures and tastes of it. Enjoy the experience of eating.