"The Food Police aren't an actual authority - they're the voice of diet culture. They show up in comments from others, in the rules we've absorbed over time, and in the voice inside our heads that narrates every food choice as a success or failure. Once you start noticing them, it becomes clear just how often they try to run the show."
"Internalized rules and self-criticism: The voice that says, You don't need seconds, or You should pick the lighter option. Sometimes it sounds like discipline - but it's often just shame in disguise. Comments from people around us: The coworker who says, I wish I could eat that, or the family member who asks, Do you really need dessert? These comments can be casual, but the message is loud."
"All of this creates a kind of invisible rule book. Common rules sound like: Don't eat late at night. Carbs are risky. Sugar equals failure. Enjoyment must be justified. Hunger is something to fight, not trust. When we break these rules, shame shows up quickly - as if we've broken a moral law rather than simply eaten food. What This Policing Does to Us Even though food policing is often packaged as health or self-control, it rarely leads to a peaceful relationship with eating."
Food becomes morally coded early, producing a diet-culture voice called the Food Police that governs choices through internal rules, social comments, and media messages. Common injunctions—avoid late eating, fear carbs and sugar, and justify enjoyment—form an invisible rule book. Breaking those rules triggers shame and moral judgment rather than neutral responses to nourishment. Food policing often wears the guise of health or discipline but typically produces anxiety, preoccupation, self-criticism, and weakened trust in bodily hunger and pleasure. The result is a disrupted, less peaceful relationship with eating driven by rules instead of physiological needs.
Read at Psychology Today
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