We're coming up on Halloween, and you know what the means:

Candy Anxiety!

Ok, that's not a real thing--I made it up. But I think most of us can relate.

You know how it is when it comes to Halloween candy. You either:

Wait til the last minute to buy the candy you're going to pass out in the hopes that you won't eat any
Buy candy that you don't like in the hopes that you won't eat any (which can make those Trick-or-Treaters more than a little angry because let's face it--no one wants that kind of candy!)
Buy your favorite candy, eat a few (or a lot of) pieces in the weeks before Halloween, and then run out and buy more before Beggar's Night

And all of that is anxiety-provoking.

But why?

Well, we can thank diet culture for this one--again. Diet culture has contributed to our anxiety about Halloween candy--and obviously lots of other foods--in three ways:

By consistently telling us that we can't control ourselves around food. When they create this fear and anxiety, they then get to give us a "solution" to this problem: dieting. And remember what we talked about last week? Dieting and controlling food doesn't work!
By leading us to diet. When we cut out foods like candy, at some point our bodies (and our parts) rebel against that and eat alllllll of it. That leads us to feel as though we can't control ourselves, leading us back to dieting.
By depriving us. Diet culture tells us that candy is "bad" and we shouldn't eat it. But when we're faced with it--like we are at Halloween--we can't take the deprivation any more, and we dive in feet first. It doesn't even matter if we want it. This is our opportunity to have it before we cut it out again. "The diet starts tomorrow."

But here's the thing: you don't have to be so anxious about candy or any other "fear foods" that are on your list.

You absolutely CAN walk by these foods and eat them when and if you want them.

How?

Through a process called habituation. Habituation essentially means getting used to something. When we habituate to something, that thing isn't exciting and new any more. We aren’t drawn to it.

We can do this with food. When you actually allow yourself to have the foods that you've been afraid of, you get used to them. They aren't exciting any more. And you can walk right past them.

Habituation is one of the key concepts of Intuitive Eating, and it's what we're talking about in this week's podcast episode. In this episode, I walk you through the process of habituating to food. Yes! There is a whole process! We don't just stock our cupboards with our fear foods. I break that whole process down for you so you'll know exactly how to do it.

And I talk about the work that we need to do with our parts as well. We all have parts that are anxious about bringing our fear foods into the house. And we must give those parts some space to tell us how they feel.

Again, it's the IFS/IE combo for the win!

And by win I mean the calm, peaceful relationship with food that we talked about last week.

When you complete the habituation process, you'll be able to keep foods in the house that you never thought you could. And you'll be able to eat them if and when you want to. I swear to you it works!

So check it out!

Click below to listen!

Episode 38: Yes You CAN Pass by Those Peanut Butter Cups.