The work that I do has one purpose; helping food-panicked survivors of hormone-positive breast cancer eat with peace and enjoy their food again after treatment ends.
Sounds like that would be pretty simple, doesn’t it?
Give clients a few handouts, teach them what’s best to eat and avoid, then load them up with plant-based recipes and encourage them to try ‘em out.
Oh my, no.
While those are all fine as resources go, and certainly useful, that’s not enough to transform the lives of my clients.
Here’s why.
Every woman I work with comes to me with expectations about her diet.
A few examples:
- Everything I eat must make me feel safe
- Every meal must be delicious and “good for me”
- Every meal and snack must be healthy, nourishing and reduce my recurrence risk
Basically, as one of my clients told me about her diet expectations; women believe they must eat PERFECTLY after treatment ends. . .or else.
“Or else” means the cancer will come back.
WHY WE CREATE DIET EXPECTATIONS
It’s easy to pile expectations on to what we eat. When we do that, we give our brain a break from thinking about all we’ve been through. It also gives us relief from thinking about the possibility of ever going through that again.
The problem with that is, we can never live up to our expectations of “eating perfectly”. Our diet expectations are too lofty, too unattainable, too grandiose.
Trying to meet diet expectations by aiming for excellence will leave you frustrated, panicked, feeling like a failure.
And you’re not.
What would it look like to develop food trust, and allow yourself to make confident diet decisions with ease?
Food trust goes well beyond handouts and recipes, and it takes time to develop; but it IS possible to achieve. . .without perfection.
I ask you, what are YOUR diet expectations? Tell me in the comments below.
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This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your dietitian or doctor for guidance specific to your needs.
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