Unlearning Food Rules: 7 Gentle Reframes for Rebuilding Body Trust
- Inside n' Out Health
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
For a long time, diet culture shaped my perception of what I believed “healthy” was supposed to look like.
Misinformation, wellness trends, and unrealistic expectations taught me to distrust my hunger, minimise my needs, and disconnect from my body.
So much of what I thought was “discipline” was actually pressure — to shrink, to control, to override my internal cues.
No wonder I felt disconnected.
Rebuilding trust with my body didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t a reset, a challenge, or a perfect plan. It was a slow unravelling of rules, identities, and beliefs that I truly thought made me a “healthy” person.
For many women, clean eating or extreme discipline becomes part of who we are.
Letting go can feel unsafe — like we’re losing control or betraying our identity and values.
What I learned instead was this:
Reconnection isn’t about abandoning your values — it’s about realigning with them.
Honesty.
Trust.
Respect.
These seven gentle reframes helped me rebuild trust in my body again.
1. “I shouldn’t be hungry yet” → “My hunger exists for a reason.”
Hunger isn’t a lack of discipline. It’s communication.
Ignoring hunger doesn’t make it disappear — it just disconnects you from your internal cues.
When hunger is repeatedly overridden, the body learns to quiet the signal. Over time, this creates confusion regarding appetite, cravings, and feelings of fullness.
Responding to hunger — even when it feels inconvenient — was one of the first ways I rebuilt trust between my brain and body.
2. “Wait as long as possible” → “Morning hunger means my body is working.”
Like many women, I believed intermittent fasting meant holding off on food for as long as possible.
I ignored hunger upon waking and delayed my first meal until early afternoon. All it did was leave me running on stress hormones, disconnected from hunger, and chasing energy all day.
Feeding myself earlier didn’t make me lose control —it helped my cues become steadier, clearer, and more reliable.
3. “Eating less is being good” → “Regular meals keep my cues stable.”
Skipping meals didn’t make me more disciplined.
It blunted my hunger during the day — and sometimes left me eating past the point of fullness, or barely feeling hunger at all.
Both are signs of under-fuelling.
My body wasn’t misbehaving. It was coping.
Regular meals created safety, and safety allowed my natural cues to return.
4. “Carbs are the enemy” → “Carbs support energy, hormones, and training.”
Diet culture taught me to fear carbohydrates and chase “clean eating.”
But both increased rigidity, fear, and disconnection.
Carbohydrates fuel muscles, support hormonal health, stabilise mood, and make training feel possible — not punishing.
Carbs weren’t the problem.
The misinformation was.
5. “I’m fine, I have energy” → “Wired doesn’t mean nourished.”
For some women, under-fuelling shows up as exhaustion.
For others — especially in high-stress or hypothalamic amenorrhea states — it looks like being wired, jittery, or constantly “on.”
Adrenaline can mask fatigue.
Learning the difference between true energy and stress-driven energy was confronting — but essential for recovery.
6. “I’ll restart Monday” → “Predictability matters more than perfection.”
Living in rigid weekday discipline and weekend chaos disconnected me from trust and internal rhythm.
My body didn’t need perfection. It needed predictability — consistent nourishment, even when routines shifted.
This reframe became especially important during busy seasons and social events.
7. “Snacks are bad” → “Snacks keep my energy steady and safe.”
I absorbed the belief that certain foods were “bad” — classic black-and-white thinking taught by diet culture.
That narrative didn’t protect me. It disconnected me.
Needing snacks is normal — especially when under-fuelled.
Fearing sugar or higher-energy foods only made me more restrictive and reactive around food.
Letting snacks be neutral softened my inner dialogue — and strengthened trust.
Rebuilding Trust Isn’t Tidy — But It’s Worth It
Unlearning food rules wasn’t neat or linear.
It was messy, emotional, and deeply humbling.
But through this process, my brain and body learned to speak the same language again.
I learned to:
recognise hunger
respond to energy needs
honour satisfaction
trust my cues
and respect my body — not battle it
If you’re walking this path too, I hope this felt like company.
You don’t have to earn food. You don’t have to override your needs.
Your body communicates — and you deserve to hear it clearly.
If you’d like support rebuilding trust with food and your body, my coaching is available for early 2026.
You don’t have to do this alone.
If you’d like to explore working together, you can fill in an enquiry form(link below) or send an email to infoinsidenouthealth@gmail.com
You’ll receive:
✨ a gentle intake form
✨ personalised pathway options
✨ first access to start dates
✨ resources to support you before coaching even begins
Warm Wishes
Stacey
Certified MNU Nutritionist
Inside n' Out Health
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