Mother & Father Food Types

The Needs Behind the Food Cravings that Can Control Us

by Jill Hubbard

The struggle to lose weight very often involves a battle against eating the foods we crave. It is important to understand what is behind the cravings; what is driving the need to eat certain foods that we seem to have to have no matter what?

Mother Foods and Father Foods are about the types of foods you crave and how those foods correlate with what you are feeling and needing at the time you are craving them. When we turn to food to fill ourselves up or numb ourselves out, we are not allowing ourselves to have or know what we truly want and feel.

COMFORT FOODS are Mother Foods.
If you think about it, Mother and Father Foods tend to fit our stereotypes of male and female traits. Mother Foods tend to be comfort foods. Foods that are smooth and creamy and that go down easily are usually put in the category of Mother Foods. Dairy products tend to be Mother Foods.

AGGRESSION FOODS are Father Foods.
Father foods have more of a bite to them. They tend to be hard and crunchy or salty or sour. When we are craving Father foods, we need to look at what we are doing with our aggression.

FOODS? Look at what you are doing with your aggression.
It appears to be easier to identify our need for comfort than to understand the need for aggression and how we can assert ourselves in a healthy manner. When you find yourself craving food, take some effort to begin to identify and write down what those foods are and what’s going on around you to lead you to those foods.

After you have done this for a week or two, check to see if there is a pattern to what you are seeing. What you identify would be good material to talk over with an accountability partner, your support group or with your therapist. Learning to respond to your needs in healthy ways will diminish the cravings that drive you to eat.