Why I Have No “Off-Limits” Foods

I have no "off-limits" foods that I stay away from to avoid overeating.

I’ve been vegan since 2005, and some perceive being vegan that as having off-limits foods, but I'm vegan for moral and ethical reasons, not because I'm afraid I will overeat if I'm not vegan. The motivation is totally different.

I also don't drink any alcohol. Alcohol was never a thing for me anyway; I've probably had less than ten alcoholic drinks in my whole life. Food was my addiction.

So I also don't drink any alcohol, but again, that's not because I'm afraid I'll have too much if I start. It's because I believe any amount of alcohol is poison, I don't like the way it feels, I don't like the taste, and there's no sense in having another thing in my life that numbs emotion.

There can be foods and drinks you don't ever have and never plan to, and that's not inherently a bad thing.

Within a vegan diet, I have no foods that are off limits. Not sugar, not chocolate, not fried food, not flour, processed food etc. Now, I don't eat those things often because I don't feel great if I have them often, and I know the body is not designed to process lots of them, but they're not off-limits from a psychological standpoint.

My mindset is that if I wanted to have them on any day, I could have them on any day. This removes them from being on a pedestal because I view them as available at any time.

And when I do have them, it doesn't set off a binge or an overeating spiral. I never feel like if I start, it will be hard to stop.

Often, even in well-known food addiction programs, you'll see the recommendation or requirement to eliminate certain foods because it is believed they're too addictive. It will even be called "abstinence" from those foods.

This is all a big distraction from the fact that we can heal the underlying reasons as to why we want to be excessive with certain foods and drinks, and when we do, we will not go off the deep end if we have some.

In that place, while you still might make choices based on ethics or on your internal health, you won't make choices based on being afraid of yourself and afraid of certain foods.