Understanding Restriction
Restriction is at the heart of the struggles with basically every client I work with. Restriction can take many forms, some that might be more obvious and some that you might not associate with restriction.
But in one way or another, restriction is likely to be a driving factor for what is keeping you feeling stuck out of control with food.
In this article I am going to cover the different forms of restriction and the reasons you might not associate restriction with your symptoms.
Typically when people think of restriction they think about physical restriction which involves restricting total calories below what their body needs, restricting certain categories of food and or restricting certain macronutrients for example carbohydrates and/or fat. Ways you might be physically restricting include:
Counting calories
Following food rules
Weighing food and making sure that you’re not going over a certain amount
Following a specific meal plan which is less than what your body needs
Avoiding certain categories or types of food
Fasting or intermittent fasting or reducing your eating window or eating one meal a day
Following a specific diet
However, it’s not only physical restriction that occurs.
There is also:
Impending restriction - this is when you tell yourself that some form of restriction is coming. This might be telling yourself that tomorrow you are going to “get back on track” or that “you will start your diet on monday.”
Mental restriction- This is where you aren’t physically depriving yourself, but mentally you’re not allowing yourself to eat it. For example you get a cake out, or order a takeaway, but you beat yourself up the whole time and feel huge amounts of guilt, which takes all the pleasure and satisfaction away.
While in the short term, you might be able to restrict or deprive yourself, with time this becomes more difficult, which is why, for many people, they can restrict or diet to start with, but at some point they start eating more; often the foods that have been “off limits”
This is where a client will usually come to see me. They might tell me that they are a binge eater, an emotional eater, addicted to sugar, lack willpower or can’t be trusted around food etc. This leads them to try harder to “fix” the situation and ‘gain control’ through restricting further, which keeps the cycle going.
But here is the thing, these behaviours and symptoms don’t come out of the blue.
When we start to explore their pattern of eating it’s because in one way or another they are restricting themselves, even if they don’t think they are.
Humans evolved when food wasn’t so readily abundant. If we failed to eat, we would die, therefore it was essential that we had an inbuilt system that drove us with a desire to eat. When we eat less than we need, our body will drive us to consume more when given the chance.
Your body doesn’t understand that you are purposefully restricting, it just sees that you’re under-eating and not getting what you need. It wants to protect you by getting you to eat food which it does through various mechanisms. I have done a separate article on this, so I would recommend checking that out here
Here are some of the most common ways people can be restricting (and often without realising)
You graze throughout the day, but never allow yourself to feel full
You leave long gaps between eating windows
You “fill up” on diet drinks, large amounts of water or regularly chew gum
You ‘fill’ up on high volume, low energy dense foods
You are not eating satisfying foods
You are physically eating less than your body needs
You are lacking specific nutrients (most commonly carbohydrates)
You tell yourself that this will be the last time you have this food, and that tomorrow you will “get back on track”
You tell yourself what you “can” and “can’t” eat hours in advance
You underestimate how much movement you are doing (standing, moving around, cleaning etc all count as movement)
How many of these do you resonate with?
Have you ever thought of them as restriction?
Restriction is ALMOST always at the heart of eating issues. A key part of my work with clients is to help them make sense of what is REALLY going on and to help them take steps towards a more peaceful and compassionate relationship with food and their body.
Are you stuck in a cycle of behaviours, that despite how much you try you can’t stop?
I can help you. Just follow these simple steps:
Meet with me weekly
Begin your journey to freedom
.