All About Safe Foods

[Listen to an audio version of this blog HERE.]

I was afraid of cake, cookies, candies, and anything sweet. My aversion to sweets spiraled into fear of other “bad foods” that I read about in magazines or saw on TV. White bread was a “bad food.” Crackers and cheese were bad. Cereal was bad, butter was bad, meat was bad, everything was bad. At one point I restricted carbs to beans and ate only raw fruits and vegetables, which (obviously) wrecked my digestive system. Many people have an aversion to specific foods not because they don’t like that food but because they think the quality of that food poor. Many individuals suffering from eating disorders have very intense fear foods and, on the flip side of the coin, foods they consider “safe.” A safe food is “safe” because it won’t cause weight gain, or because it does not pose the risk of overeating. Today I’m going to break down how it’s possible to remove the word “safe” from your food lexicon for good.

Because safe foods are chosen to avoid overeating or weight gain, it makes sense that fear foods are avoided because of the threat of weight gain or because the food is hard to resist and overeating is likely. Common fear foods include: cake, cookies, doughnuts, candy, ice cream, pasta, pizza, chips, and anything rich or tasty. Fear foods are exacerbated when eating out because someone else is preparing…