If you are in recovery from an eating disorder, it is very common to have a fear of certain foods that you were depriving yourself of before starting to recover because you thought they were bad or could harm you. This fear leads to feelings of regret, shame, anxiety and terror. Facing those foods that you fear can be intensely stressful, but working to break this fear will make you start to feel safe.

Here are some ways that can help you break your fear of food:

 

1-categorize your fear food into "Extreme fear food, medium fear food, slightly fear food"

Extreme fear food	Medium fear food	Slightly fear food
X	X	X
X	X	X

 

*Also if you eat a specific type of food with a specific portion & you’re afraid to eat more, you can add a bigger portion in one of these categories

2- Choose one of the fear foods that you wrote

You can choose directly from the paper, let one of your friends or a family member choose it for you or you can make it even more interesting by adding your fear foods in a jar and pick randomly one paper, challenge the food that you picked.

3- Combine it with one of your safe foods

Safe food: Is any type of food that you’re not afraid of eating It. You can mix it in one jar and choose with no fear.

4-Distract yourself

If you're too scared, distract yourself (watch a video, or movie, listen to a song, talk to a friend, etc....)

5- Write down your feelings and thoughts 

Especially before and after consuming the fear food, writing your thoughts will make you more aware of how you feel and if this thought is yours or your eating disorder!

6- have someone sit with you while you challenge your fear food 

You can choose to challenge a fear food on your own but it can be more comfy to get meal support. Choose someone close you trust and ask him or her to join while you are preparing the challenge. It is significant to be in a peaceful, comfortable and empowered environment that helps you challenge your fears. 

7-Do not be so hard on yourself:

Challenge yourself but at the same time, don't go too hard on yourself, if it's not going to make you feel comfortable. It’s totally fine to take little steps and don’t worry these little steps will lead to bigger steps in the future

8-Repeat

Repeat all the challenges again. Challenging yourself more often makes fear foods, safe foods. Repetition is the key.

Finally, Practice self-compassion. Make sure that every step you take in this process is a step towards recovery, and you will never regret it at the end, working with your therapist is a golden step, overcoming your fear of food and building a healthy relationship with food is always the goal.

Facing your food fears can be upsetting, especially in the beginning, but with practice, it will get easier. Acknowledge and give yourself credit for taking this brave steps. Keel going, you are on your way to regaining yourself back.