We know how hard it is to resist the urge to pull up in a restaurant’s drive-thru and order up all those ‘forbidden foods’ or to go out and have to ‘eat healthy’ while your lunch date can enjoy anything they want.
It’s quite a challenge to keep pushing away those overwhelming cravings for your favorite snacks. Many people feel powerless, helpless to resist, and are forced to give in. These cravings eventually lead to weight gain, insecurity, and other food disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
There’s no shame to admit and seek help if you’re going through an eating disorder. Demi Lovato, a famous American pop singer, and actress has shared several stories of her overeating accidents which have led her to multiple weight-related issues. Even Lady Diana went through a tough spell of bulimia.
To be “triggered” has a vast meaning but when it is related to food it could be defined as an eating disorder. Trigger food can bring that person back to those unhealthy eating habits and routines that lead to emotional and physical distress.
These foods don’t always have to be consumed out of hunger or cravings but are just addicting for the consumer. Triggers can happen anywhere and at any moment. It can be caused just by the sight of food, mentions in a conversation, or even a sudden memory. Emotional instability on a stressful days can often lead you to overindulgences as well.
Common types of forbidden foods
If you wish to remove these foods from your diet to get a better grip on yourself then you have to find replacements for them to work. Here are some common types of trigger foods that people struggle with:
- Candies and dairy products: These contain a high concentration of addicting sugar that is most likely to lead to binging habits. You could replace such products with either sugar and fat-free products or dried fruits.
- Fizzy drinks: Most of them are loaded with sugars, food coloring, and high levels of fructose that lead to a sugar rush. Many companies have started manufacturing diet drinks or zero-calorie products that taste just the same but don’t harm your body.
- Fried food products: Deep-fried foods such as wings or fries give off a unique satisfaction, but they’re almost always high on dangerous levels of cholesterol and fats. These dishes could instead be air fried with little to no oil or baked in the same way to reduce the cholesterol content.
How to manage your trigger foods:
Eating healthier doesn’t necessarily mean cutting out entire food categories from your life permanently, instead, you could:
- Portioning every meal is just enough to satisfy your craving but not enough to lead to binge eating.
- Plan to deal with your triggers through meditation, therapy, group meetings, or looking for distractions.
- If you are emotionally unwell you can find ways to cope up with those emotions rather than going back to your old habits and munching all those feelings away.
