Lots people around the world suffer from fears that significantly harm their quality of life. One of them is the fear of food. This phobia, technically called cibophobia, is an anxiety disorder that manifests in an exaggerated fear of eating.

Cibophobia differs from anorexia and bulimia because people don’t eat because they think all foods have toxins in their food. People who have bulimia or anorexia do not eat out of an aesthetic fear of fattening.

If you suffer from an irrational fear of eating, here are good ideas about how to get over your fear of food.

Meditation

Meditation is a mental exercise that allows you to reflect on a particular topic without feeling identified with it.

Ideally, this practice should be done every day.

Choose a comfortable place and let yourself calm down. Take a deep breath and reflect on your fear of food. Let yourself be carried away by your emotions and allow all the sensations you feel to flow. Soon you will start to relate better to food, you will no longer be afraid.

Share the problem

If you suffer an irrational fear of food (even if it doesn’t seem irrational to you at the time you experience it), it would be a good idea for you share this problem with people who have the same fear. A support group – in person or online.

Exposing your phobia to people who understand you will deeply reduce the distress you feel.

They will support you in your pain and, in turn, you will help them.

Become more aware of the irrationality of your fear

Incredible as it may seem, a fear can become so distressing that you forget that it is an irrational and potentially meaningless fear.

That’s why every time you’re afraid of food, remember that’s not normal and that it’s hurting you.

Realize that you must do an internal job to overcome this phobia and rest assured that you will succeed.

Don’t push yourself

Overcoming your fear of food will take some time, which is absolutely normal. Respecting your internal timing accelerates the ultimate solution to your problem.

Let your sensations flow, don’t subject them to any external pressure.

You must not rush to resolve this situation or – even worse – postpone a solution indefinitely.

Write a journal

Writing is a very relaxing and enjoyable activity, which can help you control your negative thoughts.

Every time you’re afraid of food, encourage yourself to write down all the negative sensations it generates.

At the end of the day read everything you wrote and you will realize how irrational your fear of food is.

This way you start to have control over your negative thoughts and you will no longer allow them to continue to harm your daily life. Facing your problem with this new attitude will make you feel empowered, because you own your life, not your negative thoughts.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

This technique can help you overcome your fear of food, as this one has done with many people with that and other phobias.

NLP is a discipline that addresses fears from a psychological, linguistic and communicational point of view.

The first thing you need to do is contact a professional who is properly trained to help you through this method. Or download a professionally recorded audio.

NLP professionals say phobias can be overcome fast (often in a handful of minutes) – if you’d like to try it in the comfort of your own home, download this track.

Face your fear as an opportunity

Your fear of food is seriously harming your quality of life.

This one doesn’t allow you to feed well, you’re scared and you don’t see a solution in the short term.

What you can do to overcome this fear is to face it from a totally different perspective: you have to focus your energy to solve it because you know that when you’ve overcome it you will have evolved as a person.

When you no longer feel frightened about food you will feel liberated, ready to face new challenges. Face your journey as an adventure, leaving the anguish behind.

Conclusion

Every time you wonder about how to get over your fear of food, you should remember that you own your life, not your fear.

This fundamental idea will make you aware of your own power, leaving behind a fear that only does it do is harm your physical and mental health.