Hey,
I want to tell you a story.
Years ago, I distinctly remember being sat across from a client who had spent half her adult life following rigid meal plans. Every calorie weighed out. Every portion controlled. “Bad” foods? Off-limits. And she was tired.
Tired of the rules, tired
of feeling boxed in.
She looked at me and said, “I just want to eat normally.”
So, I did what I thought was appropriate and we removed the rules. She had full
permission to eat what she wanted, when she wanted, using the knowledge she already had. Of course, I still gave her some guidelines, but effectively, I set her free from the rules.
However, she came back, looked down at her hands, and told me, “I feel more stressed now than I did when I was dieting.”
That really stuck with me, and changed the way I viewed things a lot.
The truth is that the very thing that sounds like the finish line, food freedom, is often much more challenging
than people realise.
When the rules disappear, the world opens up. And with that openness comes uncertainty. Every meal becomes a negotiation. What do I want? Should I have it? Is this healthy? Will I regret it later?
This isn’t weakness. This isn’t lack of willpower. This is what it means to be human. Philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre called it “the anxiety of freedom.” Søren Kierkegaard described the “dizziness” that comes when you realise there’s no script anymore.
Strict rules, for all their downsides, give you certainty.
No sugar. No carbs after 6. Only clean foods. You don’t have to think. You don’t have to choose. And when the rest of life is already demanding, that certainty feels safe and cosy.
Freedom asks more of you. It demands awareness, emotional regulation, self-trust. It’s stepping into the grey zones without a map. And for most people, no one ever taught them how to live in the grey.
That’s why freedom can feel so overwhelming at first. Freedom is a skill, not a switch. You have to learn to be free.
Think of it like learning to ride a bike. Rules are the training wheels. They give you stability when everything feels shaky. But at some point, if you want to truly ride, those wheels need to
come off. And that wobbly, uncertain feeling? That’s not failure. That’s how you actually grow and learn to ride the bike.
Learning to tolerate freedom doesn't just impact your diet, it actually changes the way you interact with the world. Your confidence expands. Your shame shrinks. You stop needing perfect answers to feel
safe.
This is why I’m so passionate about helping people build the skills that make dietary freedom possible. Real freedom doesn’t mean “no structure.” It means just enough structure to keep you steady, and enough trust to steer your own ship.
So if you’ve ever stared at a menu, felt overwhelmed in a shopping aisle, or thought “Why can’t I just eat intuitively like everyone else?”... you’re simply facing the same human tension between certainty and autonomy that we all do.
And you
can learn to navigate it. Step by step. Skill by skill.
👉 If this resonates with you, read the full article here, to understand how to build real food freedom. It dives deep into why freedom is hard, why rules feel safe, and how to build real trust with your choices.
👉 And if you’re ready to work on this with guidance, you can join our coaching program. You don’t have to figure this out alone.
Ultimately, freedom isn’t about getting it perfect. It’s about learning to trust yourself, even
when things aren’t perfect.
