For those of you who chronically diet, have bulimia or anorexia nervosa or binge eat you probably have a fairly good idea by what I mean by “food preoccupation”. Food preoccupation is when you spend A LOT of time thinking about food—what you are going to eat, if you are going to eat, worrying about choosing the “wrong or right” foods or how the food is going to affect your body weight. Sure it is normal to think about food on a daily basis: what you want to eat, when, etc. But, when you spend much of your day worrying about food then if feels more like “food preoccupation”.
Why do people with eating problems tend to have food preoccupation?
I think there is a variety of reasons why eating problems increase preoccupation with food. Food restriction (dieting, eating disorders usually involve food restriction) has been proven to contribute to food preoccupation (See Ancel Keys’ study for details). Since food is a basic need for survival our biology wants us to think about food, so there is a greater chance of procuring and eating food thus survival.Psychological reasons may contribute to food preoccupation. For example for some it may be “easier” or less painful to worry about food than other painful feelings. Worrying about food may give people a sense of control, because in other areas of there life they may feel powerless. Others may think that if they have a “perfect body” their life will be much improved and feel more confident about themselves. And believe food is away to achieve this. These are just a few examples of what purpose food preoccupation may serve for people. Food preoccupation is not something to panic about or try to rid yourself of it ASAP, but just notice when you may be worrying about food a little too much.
In my next post I will discuss strategies to reduce food preoccupation.