One Foot In One Foot Out

If you’ve ever told yourself, “I know I have a problem with food… but I’m not ready to fully commit yet,” this is for you.

I say this with compassion, not judgment: You cannot heal your food addiction while clinging to it.

You can’t recover from food addiction while still negotiating with the voice of sabotage, promising “tomorrow,” or clinging to the behaviors that keep pulling you back into the same exhausting cycle. Yet, this is exactly where so many people stay stuck.

The Comfort Zone Feels Safe, But It’s Where Addiction Lives

Most people don’t live fully “in” their food addiction 24/7 but they’re not free either. They live straddling the line. The in between sounds reasonable or responsible, even. It’s the pseudo balance.

“I’m not bingeing like I used to.”

“I’m better than last year.”

“I’ll tighten things up after the holidays.”

“I just need more discipline.”

The middle area feels safer than change because it doesn’t require a clear decision, but here’s the hard truth: The comfort zone is where food addiction survives and thrives.

What Living in the Comfort Zone Actually Looks Like

Living in it usually means:

• You still negotiate with food

• You promise yourself “tomorrow”

• You white-knuckle through good days

• You fall apart on stressful ones

• You treat weekends and holidays like free-for-alls

• You reset every Monday, every month, every January

You’re not fully committed, but you’re not fully letting go either. So you stay stuck managing symptoms instead of healing the root and over time, that limbo becomes exhausting.

Managing the Noise Isn’t Recovery

A lot of people confuse managing food addiction with recovering from it.

Managing looks like:

• Constant mental chatter about food

• Rules that change based on your mood

• Guilt when you “mess up”

• Pride when you white-knuckle through

• Shame when you can’t

Recovery looks different. Recovery brings clarity, consistency, trust in yourself, and peace, not perfection.

You don’t get those things by staying half-in.

Freedom Doesn’t Live in “Someday”

One of the biggest lies food addiction tells you is this:

“You’ll deal with it later.”

After the holidays, after vacation, after life slows down, after you feel more motivated, but food freedom doesn’t live in someday, it lives in a decision, not motivation, not willpower, and definitely not the perfect timing.

You Don’t Need More Willpower, You Need Truth

If willpower worked, you’d already be free. Most people struggling with food addiction are incredibly strong, disciplined, and capable. They just keep applying effort in the wrong place. You don’t need to try harder. You need to face the truth. Your actions have to match what you say you want and you either want food sobriety or you don’t.

That’s not a moral judgment, it’s just truth. Truth is what ends the mental tug-of-war.

Why One Foot In Keeps You Exhausted

When you keep one foot in:

• You never fully build trust with yourself

• Food noise stays loud

• Guilt stays heavy

• Peace feels temporary

Recovery doesn’t work when it’s conditional.

“I’ll commit… unless it’s stressful.”

“I’ll stop bingeing… but not forever.”

“I’ll change… as long as it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.”

That’s bargaining and the addiction voice loves bargaining.

Food Freedom Starts With a Hard Line

Real recovery begins when you draw a line, not a vague intention, not “I’ll try,” not another reset, a line.

This is what I no longer do. This is what I choose instead. This is who I’m becoming even when it’s uncomfortable.

That line doesn’t make you perfect, but it keeps you honest and honesty is where healing actually begins.

If This Hit a Nerve… That’s Not a Bad Thing

If reading this made you uncomfortable then good. That discomfort is information. It’s telling you that the comfort zone isn’t working anymore and that just managing the noise isn’t enough anymore and that you want more than survival.

You want peace with food, you want self-respect, you want to stop feeling like a failure and you want to follow through for real. You deserve that.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

If you’re done living in the comfort zone, if you’re ready to stop negotiating with food, and you’re ready for real healing…then Support matters, Community matters, structure (having a roadmap)matters and accountability matters.

That’s why I do what I do.

👉 Get on my email list so you don’t miss practical tools, mindset shifts, and support for building real food sobriety.

👉 Explore my Food Freedom course, Food Freedom Tribe, or private coaching if you’re ready to stop doing this alone.

You can’t heal an addiction while keeping one foot in it, but you can step fully into food freedom one honest decision at a time.