5 Nutrition 'Rules' I Don't Follow Anymore

Confessions of a recovering orthorexic—why ditching diet dogma made me happier, healthier, and free from food anxiety.

In order to explain my current approach, let’s rewind the clock.

Growing up, food wasn’t something I fixated on. Eating was a stress-free part of life—something we did together as a family, something my parents prepared for us most nights, something that wasn’t labeled as “good” or “bad.”

Home-cooked meals were the focal point, but takeout pizza and Tollhouse cookies were weekly staples. Our fridge held broccoli and butter alike. With the baseline nutrition knowledge they had, my parents did their best to strike a balance between nourishing meals and our freezer stash of Ben & Jerry’s.

Most fortunate of all, restriction wasn’t in my repertoire. In fact, I hardly paid attention to what I was eating. I played sports, joined various afterschool clubs, and was mostly shielded from unhealthy food and body image patterns. I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was full. No obsessing, no overthinking. For all of this—the food we had access to and the balanced approach my parents modeled—I am so very, very grateful.

Fast-forward to my sophomore year in college.

Everything changed.