The Food Rules You Didn't Know You Had

You might have ditched calorie counting years ago. Maybe you no longer label foods “good” and “bad.” You’ve sworn off fad diets and deleted the meal-tracking apps.

But diet culture is sneaky. It’s not just about what you log or restrict. It lives in the invisible food rules you carry without realising it.

And we’ve all got them.

What Are ‘Food Rules’?

Food rules are the unspoken stories you carry about what, when, and how you should eat. They shape the choices you make without you necessarily choosing them. And they’re often so embedded in your habits, family culture, social feeds, and old diet plans that you don’t notice them anymore.

Things like:

• “I shouldn’t eat carbs twice in one day.”

• “I should finish that.”

• “I can only have dessert if I’ve worked out.”

• “Lunch needs to be low-calorie so I can eat more later.”

• “I shouldn’t eat after 7pm.”

• “Weekends are for relaxing, but I need to ‘be good’ again on Monday.”

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You might not say these things out loud. But notice what happens in your body if you even imagine breaking one.

That clench in your stomach? That flicker of guilt? That voice of justification?

That’s a food rule.

Why It Matters

These invisible rules quietly shape your relationship with food, hunger, and your body.They turn eating into a moral issue. They disconnect you from your actual appetite.And they can reinforce the idea that you’re either in control or failing — no middle ground.

At Fresh Air and, we care about this because:

• It affects how people train, move, and recover

• It messes with nervous system regulation (hello, constant stress around food choices)

• It keeps people stuck in all-or-nothing loops disguised as “wellness”

And it stops you from trusting your body to tell you what it needs.

What Helps

The first step isn’t to scrap every rule. It’s to notice them.

Start by getting curious:

• What food rules did you grow up with?

• What ones are still hanging around in your head now?

• Which ones feel harmless, and which ones feel heavy?

• Are there moments when certain parts of you take over around food? (IFS would say those parts are trying to protect you)

The goal isn’t perfect, intuitive eating enlightenment. It’s a little more awareness, a little more choice, and a little less shame.

You Don’t Have to Untangle It Alone

If you recognise yourself in this, you’re not broken and you’re not behind. You're very, very normal. You learned these rules for a reason. And those parts of you that still cling to them?They’re trying to keep you safe.

One-to-one IFS sessions are a powerful way to gently explore those food rules, meet the parts keeping them in place, and slowly build a kinder, freer relationship with food and your body.

If you’d like to know what that could look like, my 1:1 IFS spaces are open now .

No meal plans.

No good vs bad.

No fixing.

Just deep, compassionate curiosity.

(Not ready for 1:1 sessions? We also include nutrition in our monthly memberships)