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Sweets used to cause me a lot of distress. That’s because while I loved them, I would often eat my favorites to the point of getting sick. Being around these foods was really stressful, and I maintained a long list of “trigger foods” that I made sure never to keep in the house.
My overarching trigger was candy. Starbursts. Skittles. Gummy bears. Swedish fish. And my biggest trigger of all: red licorice. Anything with artificial flavor, distant notes of “fruit,” and that classic get-stuck-in-your-teeth-chewy texture really did it for me. I couldn’t stop at a few Red Vines, I’d eat the whole box.
The problem was, every time I overate these foods, I felt sick. My stomach would ache, my blood sugar would crash, and my teeth and gums even began to suffer. So I would remove them from the house and cut them out of my shopping list—but the very act of restricting them with avoidance caused me to crave the treat and ultimately binge it again.
I became a registered dietitian thinking I would finally crack the code on my sugar woes, but the cycle continued. Then I began noticing the same issue with my clients. They would go on a diet and eliminate their trigger foods. They’d be okay without them for a while, but the desire to eat them—binge them, even—would always come back with a vengeance.
What were we getting wrong?
The problem is trying to restrict the foods in the first place, Carolyn Coker Ross, M.D., M.P.H., CEDS-S., an author, speaker, and expert in the field of eating disorders and addiction, tells SELF.
“Cutting out foods is always going to be a losing battle,” she says, adding that permitting yourself to eat your trigger foods regularly can help you get to a place of peace with them.
This concept is called habituation, and there’s actually a lot of science backing it as a solid tactic for dealing with this kind of thing.
Habituation occurs when increased exposure to a stimulus—in this case, a certain food—leads to a reduction in the psychological cascade that can lead to eating something past the point of comfort. For example, if your trigger is bread and you wanted to reach habituation, you wouldn’t eliminate bread. You’d include more of it in your meals. The idea is that repeated exposure to the food leads to a decreased stimulus, making the food seem less triggering over time. In studies, food habituation has been shown to be effective in guarding against overeating in foods people tend to cut out, like pizza, chocolate, and potato chips.
While I didn’t know it at the time, habituation was actually what helped me stop bingeing on candy—and still be able to eat it whenever I wanted without feeling guilt or shame. Then, once I started to learn more about intuitive eating, an evidence-based approach to eating designed to help chronic dieters get back in tune with their body’s unique needs, I was provided with tools (such as habituation strategies) to help others achieve the same food freedom.
Now that I focus exclusively on eating disorders and disordered eating in people from diverse backgrounds, I’ve been able to help others make peace with food too. If trigger foods are something that you’d like to address in your own diet, here are six steps you can try. Keep in mind that if you need more support and guidance during this process, an R.D. or therapist specializing in these issues can help you determine the specific steps with food to put the habituation into play in an individualized way.
1. Make sure you are eating adequately and consistently throughout the day.
One thing that I realized once I started getting a handle on my sugar binges was that eating candy on an empty stomach didn’t work for me. It makes me feel sick, causes me to crash, and increases my sugar cravings later in the day. Plus, when your blood sugar isn’t balanced because you haven’t had adequate meals, it’s also much harder to stop at a place of comfortable satisfaction because your body is in deprivation mode and playing catch up. Make sure you are getting a baseline of at least three meals per day, ideally balanced with fat, carbs, and protein, at each.
2. Reintroduce your “trigger” one food at a time.
Once you are eating at least three meals per day (and snacks if needed), it’s time to purchase your trigger food. Start with the food that sounds most fun and exciting, and try to stick to one brand and flavor at a time, to reduce the chances of feeling overwhelmed. Some people find it helpful to keep larger quantities around because it reduces feelings of scarcity. If it feels overwhelming and or unsafe to buy large quantities of your trigger food, start small. (This isn’t about unhealthy restriction, but rather simply to make it easier having your triggers around you.) Instead of buying a whole gallon of ice cream, for example, try buying one pint at a time. Keep in mind that in the beginning, it’s common that you will binge or overeat the food you are focusing on. If you have been restricting this food for a long time, this is expected.
3. Pick a time and place to eat it, and make it recurring.
Step three is deciding when and where you will enjoy your trigger food. For me, it was after dinner in my apartment. When starting, I wanted to enjoy these foods by myself in my own space.
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It may also be helpful to eat your trigger food after a meal. This way, your blood sugar will be stable, making it easier to check in with yourself and stop at a place of pleasant satisfaction. Again, understand that at this point of reintroduction, overeating is still likely and common. I also recommend that clients repeat this process at least several times per week, though it can vary from person to person. Consider incorporating it regularly until you get to a place of peace with it and aren’t feeling compelled to binge it (or eat past the point of fullness and or satisfaction).
4. Stay present when eating the food.
I often hear people report that they “clock out” or dissociate when they are consuming trigger foods, but I encourage you to do the opposite. Try to stay fully present with the eating experience. Notice the taste, texture, smell, and flavor of the food you are eating. Are you enjoying it? Does that joy peak, plateau, and/or decrease? Try to taste each bite of food as best you can, and note what the eating experience is like and whether or not the food lived up to your expectations. Staying present will help increase satisfaction and also stay in touch with how your body is responding to what you are eating.
5. Leave room for reflection.
While you eat and after you’re done, notice what, if any, feelings come up for you. Did you automatically have negative self-talk? Did you feel shame or judge yourself for eating this food? Try to approach the experience from a place of curiosity rather than judgment.
“Judging yourself just keeps you in the vicious cycle,” says Dr. Ross. “The number one thing I advise is not to judge yourself.” She recommends writing affirmations on Post-it notes, such as “I’m working on intuitive eating,” that you can read before, during, or after eating these foods—whatever works for you. Another possibility? “I’m doing what I can to make peace with my trigger foods.” If affirmations aren’t your thing, you can also use journaling as a way to check in with what you are feeling.
6. Repeat the process.
Once you run out of the package of food, check in with yourself. How was that experience for you? Did it bring up any memories (positive, negative, or neutral) surrounding this food? Were you able to eat mindfully using all of your senses? Did you even like the food? What was your anxiety like before, during, and after?
If you are up to it, I recommend continuing to eat the trigger food on a regular basis—typically I recommend once a day, though this can vary from person to person—until you feel you are more at peace with it. This may mean being able to enjoy the food, stay mindful, and stop at a place of satisfaction rather than feeling sick. It can also mean saying no to the food when you aren’t in the mood for it, or forgetting the food is even there.
7. Work on healing from trauma if you need to.
Dr. Ross says that for many people with compulsive eating behaviors, there may be some underlying trauma to work on, ideally, in some cases, with the help of a mental health professional. And if you have trauma, especially any that is severe, expect it to take time to heal. In the meantime, Dr. Ross emphasizes how important it is to avoid blaming or judging yourself for coping however you need to—including with food.
“That may be the only [coping] skill you have right now,” she says.
The beauty of habituation is that, with time, you will begin to ask yourself the question of whether or not you actually want the food in question. Sometimes the answer may be yes—and that’s perfectly fine, and is a great time to enjoy it!—but other times it’s no. You also will be able to stay connected with the eating experience so that you can check in with your body to learn when it’s had enough. If you are struggling with trigger foods, I highly recommend giving this process a try. It may take days, weeks, or (most commonly, based on my experience working with clients) months before you get to a more peaceful place with a particular food. But once you get there, it’s priceless.
