Episode 116: Food Rules and Your Fertility (Part 2: Naming Your Food Rules)

Picture this: it's your birthday, and underneath the excitement there's a twinge of dread because you know dessert, family dinners, and “what will people think” are all coming with it. It's not just birthdays. Every holiday brings the same tug-of-war between excitement and anxiety, and if celebrations feel more like a threat than a gift, that's not “just being health conscious.” Those are your food rules running the show.This episode is part two of the Food Rules and Your Fertility series. Last episode named what food rules actually are today Lindsey gets specific, walking through the ten most common food rules she sees in her practice, why “just eat intuitively” isn't the fix yet, and a simple homework activity to help you start untangling your own.In this episode, we cover:How to tell the difference between a food rule and genuinely liking to eat healthy and why it comes down to your level of distress, not the food itselfA homework activity to help you identify your own food rules and what would change in your life if you let go of themThis episode is part two of the Food Rules and Your Fertility series. In Episode 117, Lindsey wraps up the series by walking through how to actually start letting go of these rules and moving toward a more peaceful relationship with food.The biggest takeaway: figuring out whether you have a food rule or just a preference isn't about the food itself, it's about the distress you feel when you can't follow it. Once you start noticing one rule, the floodgates open, and you'll likely be shocked at how many you actually have. Awareness is step one, and just listening to this episode already puts you ahead of most women.If you heard yourself in even one or two of these rules, that's not a sign something is wrong with you, it's a sign it's time to start naming them. Grab a notebook, do the homework in this episode, and meet Lindsey back for Part 3.Mentioned in this episode:Episode 86 – What Every Woman Needs to Know About Carbs and FertilityEpisode 109 – Why Clean Eating Can Tank Your Hormones (orthorexia deep dive)Food Freedom and Fertility – Alliance for Eating Disorders supportLinks & ResourcesTake the Fertility Fix for the Fit Girl QuizFood Freedom Fertility Society