Hello fitness friends,

The word ‘diet’ has strong negative connotations for a lot of people. It may conjure up thoughts of restriction and deprivation, or vivid memories of past attempts to lose weight that were miserable and unsuccessful.

This is hardly surprising, considering that many people harbor rigid attitudes towards food and subject themselves to impossibly strict diets when they’re looking to lose weight.

It may seem like a good idea to banish everything tasty from your diet in order to expedite results, but research strongly suggests that this type of all-or-nothing thinking backfires in a big way.

When you eat something you’ve deemed off-limits, it’s likely that you’ll engage in something called counterregulatory eating. Triggered by breaking your own self-imposed rules, you find yourself throwing in the towel and indulging in everything you swore you’d never eat again. And before you know it, you’re stuck in a vicious cycle that rarely (if ever) leads to sustainable weight loss.

It’s why the relatively new and growing trend of people shouting about all the foods you should never eat again is counterproductive at best and harmful at worst.

Over the past decade, I’ve helped thousands of clients move away from their food rules, and surrender the belief that losing weight requires a rigid mindset. In my extensive experience, it’s not until you allow yourself to be more flexible with food choices that the process of losing weight loss finally becomes easier.

Easier said than done, I know. If you’re playing prisoner to a long list of food rules, here are four steps you can take to start breaking the cycle.

1. Make a list of your fear foods and/or any foods you currently deem “off-limits.” If you aren’t sure how to organize your list, create three separate columns: one for foods you sometimes avoid, one for foods you often avoid, and one for foods you never eat under any circumstances.

2. Start to challenge the thoughts attached to these foods. What are you afraid will happen if you eat them?

3. Expose yourself to the foods on your list, one at a time, on a regular basis. I recommend that you start with foods you find least scary, always doing so in a safe environment where you won’t be distracted.

4. Reflect on how things went and what you noticed. Did your prior assumptions come true? If not, what actually happened? It can be helpful to rate your level of discomfort from 1-10 each time you expose yourself to one of your fear foods, so you can gauge your progress over time.

Oftentimes, we assume that we’re the problem, and continue searching for a better, more restrictive diet. But in all my years of coaching, I’ve never seen this work.

Results require adherence, and more often than not, adherence requires sustainable, realistic practices that allow for flexibility… which is exactly why I’m giving you permission to ditch that long list of food rules that’s been holding you back. 🙂