Halloween is here and there are sweet treats EVERYWHERE! I know when I was in the midst of my overeating struggle, I’d try to control myself around sweets foods. But sooner or later I’d lose control and then tell myself… “I better finish it all now, because I’ll get back on track tomorrow.” The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way!

How to eat sweet treats without losing control

If you’re looking for support to have it easy with food through Halloween and any time in life, then I am here for you. I once felt totally out of control with food. I binged and purged almost on a daily basis for 15 years.

But here’s what I want you to know:

You can have sweet treats without losing control.

You can eat nourishing foods without fighting to say no to sweets.

You can have any food (yes any) in the house without fearing you’ll lose control.

This can all be second nature, and it can be a part of your life without you having to force it.

The first step

Allowing yourself to eat these foods unconditionally. 

Giving yourself permission to eat exactly what you’re craving and hungry for, enables you to take your power back from food. If you tell yourself you can’t have something, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that eventually builds into uncontrollable cravings.

What could have been one bar of chocolate enjoyed mindfully, ends up being a whole block of chocolate (plus more) later on.

I know you think you’re broken and a willpower weakling, however, it’s not you per se. It’s your avoidance and the subsequent deprivation of these foods that’s driving you cravings and constant thoughts about food, that result in you overeating.

Usually with overwhelming guilt and the promise to never eat these foods ever again. But we all know how that usually plays out, right?

I know allowing yourself to eat the foods you feel out of control with is really scary. I know you truly believe that if you let yourself eat what ever you wanted, you would sit on the couch all day and eat boxes of donuts.

I’m not setting you up to fail I promise. I’m setting you up to eventually win your fight against food.

How to do it?

It’s important to go slow. This does take practice and patience.

There will be a honeymoon phase where you may want to eat a lot of your previously forbidden foods. This is just a phase and it will pass in time. It’s a normal part of healing your relationship with food for good.

When you have permission to eat any food, you really get to ask yourself for the first time, do I really want it?  Do I really want this food now? It removes the “Last Supper” mentality, wherein you eat as much of the forbidden food as you can because tomorrow you will start another diet.

There’s an area of research called habituation, which describes what happens when you have access to foods. The more you are exposed to a particular food, it diminishes the desire to eat it. This has been shown for a variety of foods, including chocolate, pizza and potato chips. However, when someone is chronically on a diet, they don’t go through this normative habituation experience. 

And they continue to start their diet over every Monday. We can do better than that. 

You can say goodbye to diets and deprivation, for good. It is 100% possible to eat chocolate bars, a donut or a bowl of ice cream, and not feel guilty about it. Or feel the need to keep eating them all ~ with practice.

Building trust with your body and making peace with food is an important first step to not feeling out of control around sweets (or any other food).

If you keep thinking “I can’t control myself around sweets”, please don’t hesitate to read more about my food and body image coaching program Stop Punishing Start Nourishing here>> or get in touch with me here>>