Last week I talked about analyzing your taste buds as a means to put an end to the dieting – overeating – feeling guilty cycle. The next step to that analysis is recognizing your Food FOMO.

Food FOMO is the fear of missing out on certain foods, so you eat them regardless if you’re hungry, like them, or actually want them.

For instance: Last week at an after-school meeting that went late, the meeting leaders brought a few boxes of Oreos and Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now, I’m not really a baked goods person to begin with, but I just wasn’t interested in eating a few cookies that would eventually affect my run later that night.

You see, I know what Oreos taste like. (And without milk, they are nothing.) I know what packaged chocolate chip cookies taste like. This knowledge means I wasn’t going to be missing out on anything by not having a bite or two. Sure, I was hungry, but I had a KIND bar packed in preparation for the meeting, so I snacked on that instead.

Now, when I visit my family and my mom makes my grandmother’s famous apple pie recipe or “heart-attack” lasagna, I am all in because I know it’s a rare occasion to have those foods and I would definitely feel like I was missing out if I didn’t have some. They are those once-a-year type of a foods that I dream of the deliciousness of until I go home again.

Wedding Cake tasting definitely counts as Food FOMO

Next time you’re faced with treats in the breakroom that you already know what they taste like, or could get any time, decide if you would really be missing out if you didn’t have it. If you know you won’t be missing anything, skip it. If you feel like you would be missing out, then eat it!

And if you choose the eat it! route, then DO NOT feel guilty about it. Enjoy it. Savor it. And know that this is a rare occasion to have it.

I’m not promoting cutting foods from your diet, or being restrictive. I am promoting eating the best for your lifestyle, your goals, and your performance. For me, that means not having store-bought cookies I could literally have any time I want.

RQ: What foods do you eat because you would have FOMO? What foods do you pass over because you would not have FOMO?

Brooke Selb

I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.