What Food Freedom Actually Looks Like (No, It’s Not Eating Pizza All Day)

Let me get this clear from the start: no, food freedom does not mean eating cake all day, every day. It means not spiralling and feeling guilty when you do. Many people, especially if they have been on diets before, think that food freedom means eating cookies and sweets while lying down on the couch 27/7 and never think about a vegetable again. But the truth? Food freedom is much more empowering (and peaceful) than that!

Misconceptions about food freedom

There are many misconceptions when it comes to food freedom, especially as it contrasts so much with all the rules around food that we have been hearing for decades pretty much everywhere.

The idea that instead of controlling and restricting what you eat, you could be free to eat what you want and listen to your body sounds idealistic and for most of us, simply impossible. So let’s clear this up: Food freedom is not…

• “Just intuitive eating” → food freedom is actually so much deeper than that. Yes, intuitive eating is part of it. However, you first need to get to a place where you can genuinely eat intuitively by listening to what your body wants and needs. And to get to this place, you need to heal your nervous system so you feel comfortable around food, you need to change your mindset about food and about yourself, heal your emotional eating and binge eating patterns, and so much more. Without that deep work, you won’t be able to properly decipher what your body wants.

• “Eating whatever, whenever” → Food freedom is not about abandoning your health, and completely stopping to eat full groups of foods. Your body needs a variety of nutrients and food groups to thrive. Once the deep work has been done, your body will ask you for a variety of foods, it will never ask you for pizza for a month straight. Food freedom is the opposite: it empowers you to make choices that are attuned to your body needs, guiding you to foods that make you feel good. And sometimes that can be cake, but the next meal that might be a big salad. Don’t question it! It allows you to find balance: if you can have anything you want whenever you want, you don’t have any mind drama about having a piece of cake for dessert, and it doesn't trigger binge eating episodes or cravings as you know that you can have it again at the next meal or every day for the next week if that’s what you fancy.

• “Gaining weight forever” → food freedom is a way to listen to your body and letting it take the lead. We start with the firm belief that our body knows best, and will communicate with you what works for it or not. That’s how you let your body find its natural set point, that aligned natural weight, instead of losing or gaining weight just to reach a specific arbitrary number.

So as you can see… Food freedom isn’t being reckless with food. It’s being empowered and connected to your body. It’s revolutionary for all of us who have been relying on external rules on what we should or should not eat.

What food freedom actually looks like

Now that we have cleared up those misconceptions about Food Freedom, well, here’s what food freedom actually looks like…

• Peace around food: there’s not more mental gymnastics about what you “should” eat. Nothing is off limits, there are no more cravings that trigger binges. You know when your body needs food and when it needs you to stop. You know how to enjoy what you eat, without feeling guilt or shame for eating it.

• Feeling calm and in control: you feel calm around food, it doesn’t control you anymore. It doesn't fill up every thought that you have during the day.

• Tuning into your body: you trust your body’s cues such as hunger, fullness and satisfaction. Food goes back to its place of just being food: nourishing, a source of enjoyment, but not a source of stress, guilt, or the only way for you to feel comforted.

• Mental space to live your life: you have so much space in your life for things that fill you up with joy, instead of constantly obsessing about every calorie that you can or cannot eat. Enjoying dinners out with friends or a partner, without looking at getting the item that seems to have the least calories on the menu.

Food freedom is eating a piece of cake because it feels good - not because you’ve “earned” it. Food freedom is eating a salad because that’s what you fancy right now - not as a “punishment” for eating cake at lunch time.

The REAL transformation

And the biggest shift with food freedom? The person you become along the way.

I'm the woman who dieted from when I was 18 when I was put on my first ever diet with a dietician, until I was 26 years old (I’m now 30!). I tried so many diets - with a dietician, Weight Watchers (now WW), Slimming World, counting calories… Every time, I lost weight. After my first diet, I started developing binge eating episodes, and food was basically the only way I could soothe myself. I put all the weight back on with a little extra.

I felt completely disconnected from my body, my self-confidence had taken a massive hit, I felt out of control and weak around food - I felt like I had no willpower and discipline. I didn't understand why my body was betraying me like that. I resented it and didn’t trust it - surely, there was something broken within me, why was I like that around food?

I hated being in photos, I wasn’t confident when dating, I was always comparing my body to other women’s and I never wore the clothes I wanted because I just wanted to hide. I felt miserable all the time - even after losing weight. I always wanted to lose more.

Luckily, I met an amazing professional who helped me feel safe and comfortable around food again, get rid of all my food rules (and I had plenty of conscious and unconscious ones!), reconnect with my body, increase my self-esteem and confidence, and heal my emotional eating & break the cycle of binge eating.

In a few months, I felt like a new person - I was more confident, I wasn’t hiding anymore and was going after what I wanted instead, I felt good in my body and choosing the clothes I felt & looked good in, no more finding everything that was wrong with my body when looking at the mirror. I had so much more mental space for other things in my life instead of constantly thinking about what I would be allowed to eat for my next meal. I enjoy cake, but also a big salad full of veg. The cake doesn’t make me feel like I’ve been “bad”, and I don’t feel “proud” anymore if I happen to eat a salad. Food is just food.

That’s food freedom. And that’s why I decided to train with the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and as a Self-Love Coach, to be able to help other women just like me experience that same shift and come back to themself. I’m lucky to be working with such amazing women right now, and seeing how much food freedom empowers them in all areas of their life.

You’ve done the diets, and they made you feel in control. You’re afraid of losing control - you want to feel in charge around food. That’s exactly what food freedom gives you. Are you ready to finally stop obsessing over food and start trusting yourself and your body again? Join me and my amazing clients in Feed your Freedom, my 1:1 signature programme where we do exactly just that.

Through emotional healing, body reconnection, and nervous system healing - you’ll stop bingeing, stop restricting, and heal your emotional eating. You’ll start living like the empowered woman you are, feeling confident and beautiful.

If you’re ready to take that first step, I’d love to invite you to book your complimentary consult today 💚