I had the pleasure of speaking with Rachel Goodman, a dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating. We explored the complex realm of voluntary food restriction, particularly focusing on her personal experience with keeping kosher. This conversation sheds light on how to navigate food boundaries while maintaining a healthy relationship with food.
My Conversation with Rachel Goodman on living with food restriction
As a dietitian, Rachel’s path to intuitive eating was paved with personal struggles. From a young age, she grappled with negative body image and disordered eating. This experience led her to become a dietitian, initially driven by a desire to “figure it out” for herself and others.
However, her perspective shifted when she discovered intuitive eating. This approach not only helped her heal her relationship with food but also provided a framework to guide her clients, especially those dealing with food boundaries.
Understanding Food Boundaries vs. Food Restriction
One of the most insightful parts of our discussion was distinguishing between food restriction and food boundaries. Rachel beautifully articulated this using her experience with keeping kosher:
“I think boundaries make more sense because I have boundaries. Like I’m not restricting bacon, but my boundaries are… When you have healthy relationships, you have boundaries. Like, you cannot speak to me this way. You cannot treat me this way.”
This reframing is powerful. It shifts the focus from what you can’t have to what you choose not to have, aligning your eating habits with your values and ethics.
The Gray Zone: True Intuitive Eating
Rachel highlighted that true intuitive eating isn’t black and white. It’s about navigating the gray zone, especially when dealing with food boundaries. She gave an example of someone with diabetes:
“If you are in this place where I’m eating intuitively, so that means I’m not going to have low sugar options because that’s dieting, you’re kind of robbing yourself of an opportunity to experience a food that you might like, a food that might help your blood sugar.”
The key is to make choices based on your values, not external rules. Whether it’s religious beliefs or health concerns, the intention behind your food choices matters.
Living Your Values Through Food
Rachel’s approach to keeping kosher offers a blueprint for anyone living with food boundaries. She doesn’t see it as a restriction but as an expression of her values. Similarly, someone with diabetes might choose low-sugar options not because of diet culture but because they value their long-term health.
Here are Rachel’s tips for those struggling with food boundaries:
1. Lean into your values: Remember why you chose this path.
2. Accept the process: It’s okay to feel a sense of loss for foods you can’t have.
3. Find alternatives: Explore options that align with your boundaries.
4. Embrace discomfort: Not all discomfort is bad; some signify growth.
Rachel emphasizes that discomfort doesn’t always mean something’s wrong. There’s a difference between the discomfort of restrictive food rules and the discomfort of trying new things to align with your values.
In this process, we’re reclaiming our choices from diet culture. Whether it’s kosher living or managing health conditions, our food decisions reflect our deepest values. It’s not about what we can’t have but what we choose to embrace.
Rachel Goodman is a Registered Dietitian, Speaker, and Mom of 4 who specializes in helping women break free of the diet-binge eating cycle & silence their inner body bully so they can feel normal & nourished with food again while finding body peace. She also mentors Intuitive Eating professionals in elevating their counselling skills & coaching their clients with confidence.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode on living with food restriction:
- The difference between food restriction and food boundaries
- How to maintain intuitive eating while honoring your values
- Strategies for managing food boundaries without triggering disordered eating
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