Ask Yourself These 3 Questions About Your Eating Habits

Sometimes, a controlled diet can backfire, leading to increased cravings or overeating. Health experts often advise against overly restrictive eating habits for various reasons.

Jennifer Rollin, founder of The Eating Disorder Center in Rockville, Maryland, explains to CNN.com:

“Choosing specific foods to consume fewer calories or nutrients than your body needs is what’s referred to as a ‘controlled diet.’”

Rollin adds, “It’s often not sustainable in the long term.”

As a result, you may end up lacking necessary nutrients or develop an unhealthy relationship with food due to erratic eating behaviors.

So, how do you know if you’re following a controlled diet or eating healthily and feeling satisfied?

To understand that, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Are you constantly thinking about food?

The amount of time you spend thinking about food can be a strong indicator of your eating habits.

Nutritionist Natalie Mokari from North Carolina explains in the same article:

“In a healthy lifestyle, once you’ve eaten what your body needs, your focus shifts to other tasks. But in a controlled diet, your mind is preoccupied with what you’re eating—or not eating.”

This can also lead to feelings of guilt after eating certain foods.

Social interactions may also be affected. There’s less satisfaction, and thoughts about what to eat or avoid become like a full-time job.

According to Mokari, “This can cause some people to overeat, decreasing their ability to enjoy food.”

This kind of mental burden is not a healthy way to relate to food.

2. How rigid are you? A good way to evaluate your approach to eating is by asking how inflexible you are about food.

Rollin says, “There’s a difference between choosing foods that make you feel good and forcing yourself to follow strict eating rules.”

Being rigid with food can lead to feelings of guilt.

Certain health conditions may require eliminating specific foods, but otherwise, it's better to maintain a balanced diet.

For example, if you want to reduce cheese intake, do you decide to avoid it completely? Or do you include more fruits, vegetables, and nuts to naturally lower your cheese consumption?

Rollin recommends the latter: “Instead of cutting something out entirely, it’s more helpful to add other foods so you naturally consume less of that item.”

3. Do You Crave Just a Little Taste?

Mokari suggests following the 80/20 rule.

That means spending 80% of your time making thoughtful, health-conscious food choices, and being more flexible the remaining 20% of the time.

This approach can help break the restrictive diet mindset.

She adds, “When you start restricting certain foods, your body can develop a sort of famine mentality toward them.”

Rollin notes, “Not being able to control your intake of certain foods is often a sign of overly controlled eating.”

Even if you manage to restrict physically, the mental guilt afterward can be overwhelming.

How to Move Away from a Controlled Diet

If you’re thinking of changing your eating habits for health reasons, consulting a nutrition or health professional is the best approach.

Both Mokari and Rollin agree:

“Only a qualified health expert can guide you to the right eating pattern based on your body’s size, weight, shape, and specific needs.”

For specific conditions—like allergies—you may have to cut out certain foods entirely, but that too should be done under medical supervision.

The main goal of your eating habits should be to understand your body’s needs—and to eat healthy without placing unnecessary mental pressure on yourself.