Why Food Feels So Hard

Much of the current thinking about food and weight is built on misunderstanding.

It’s filled with myths — about discipline, control, metabolism, good eaters and bad eaters — that quietly lead people into struggle with food rather than ease.

For years, many people have approached food as something to manage, fix or overcome. And the harder they try to change their eating, the more charged food seems to become.

People often believe that effort and vigilance are inevitable parts of managing food and weight. They analyse meals, track behaviour and try to outthink themselves. But moods distort perception. When people act from low moods, eating becomes tense and effortful.

Weight struggles aren’t caused by food itself, just as relationship struggles aren’t caused by circumstances. Everyone eats. Everyone faces temptation. But those experiences don’t create problems on their own.

What’s misunderstood is where the difficulty is actually coming from.

More rules, restriction and monitoring create more pressure.
Pressure invites resistance.

Suddenly food starts to feel tempting, urgent or emotionally loaded.

Yet food is just sitting there, minding its own business.

The pressure isn’t coming from food.
It’s coming from the rules around it.

Negative emotions around food grow in proportion to the attention they receive. The more seriously they’re taken, the louder they become. When people lose sight of this, they blame food, their body or themselves for how they feel.

Food isn’t the problem.
Nor is weight.

Something is off — but it isn’t you