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Restrictive Diets Can Trigger a Lot of Emotions!

nutrition stress Nov 03, 2017

Do you struggle with the emotions surrounding your health plan or restricted diet? Whether it is for weight loss or to heal and correct a health condition it can be extremely challenging to stick to the plan. It is understandable that there may be associated feelings around this.

Mary felt anger and rage when her enjoyment of food was restricted. She was so surprised by her reaction and decided that it was time to dig deep to see where those feelings came from. While feelings are often complex and multifaceted, she remembered a time from early childhood. Whenever she misbehaved, as all children do sometimes, she was sent to her room without dinner and her parents behaved very coldly to her until they decided that they were finished punishing her. As she grew older, discipline turned to grounding and restriction. Anytime she had to restrict herself it brought up the angry child and rebellious adolescent big-time!

When she was recommended to go off of all sugar, bread and fermented foods for a period of time to heal her candida, suddenly Mary was PISSED! How DARE anyone tell her, a grown woman, what she can and cannot eat!!! Who does this doctor think she IS anyway??? In fact Mary hit the internet looking for evidence to refute her doctor’s diet restrictions! She actually ended up firing her first few doctors, yet her health issues persisted, because really, in order to heal she absolutely NEEDED to change her diet and lifestyle.

After the 4th or 5th doctor firing, and suffering with chronic vaginal yeast infections for quite a while longer, AND after she had exhausted all of the pharmaceutical options she showed up in my office. She told me she knew that she needed to address her rebellion around diet changes and began to work with a psychotherapist to further understand the origins of her issue. Once she became more conscious of her childhood wounds around restriction and discipline, she was better able to stick to the healing diet and her yeast infections diminished. The process was not linear, but once she got her inner adult to work out a deal with her inner adolescent, she was able to have some success.

The work around understanding the emotional relationship to food and health is complex and layered and rarely linear. In fact there were many twists and turns for Mary as she uncovered her connections to food and mood.

It is also fine if you don’t have your food thing all figured out. Several of my patients have come to me after trying several therapeutic diets because they aren’t yet finding the results that they had hoped for. This happens. Sometimes it takes a bit of a process to find what works for you AND it changes throughout your life.

“The truth shall set you free”.  Knowing where your feelings came from can allow you choice and awareness to change your patterns around food and eating. It takes time though. It is not a one time “Aha!”, usually more like a winding circular labrynth!

I have a practice that specializes in digestive health. I can work locally in Colorado or remotely. I work with people who live all around the world. If you are interested in working one on one with me, I offer a FREE 15 minute phone consultation to see if we are a good fit for each other. You can schedule that online here .  You can also call (303) 443-2206 to schedule M-F 9-5 Mountain time. If you want to jump right in, you can immediately schedule your initial visit. I hope to hear from you soon!