Tag Archive for: Diet Culture

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care Versus Self Control

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding Intuitive Eating is that nutrition guidelines and recommendations go out the window, or there is no focus on nutrition at all—it’s the “eating whatever you want when you want” mindset. However, this is far from the truth.

Gentle nutrition is the tenth Intuitive Eating principle and reads a little something like this:

 

“Making food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you do not have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You do not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters—progress not perfection is what counts.”

In order to reach a point of where gentle nutrition can be incorporated, there needs to be space created for a positive relationship with food that allows for this. Hence why there are nine principles that come before this that help you…

 

  • Dismantle diet mentality
  • Challenge the food police
  • Get rid of diet rules
  • Reframe limiting beliefs
  • Accept your body

 

A solid foundation built on these principles needs to be in place for nutrition to be brought into the mix and approached in a non-diet way. This way you’re able to make choices from a loving, caring space and that consider all aspects of who you are (mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

Difference Between Gentle Nutrition and Traditional Nutrition

 

The difference between nutrition from an Intuitive Eating approach vs. traditional approach is that nutrition is rooted in self-care and approaches it in a way that is sustainable.

 

Gentle nutrition is not rigid, restrictive, or filled with complications like traditional nutrition is often taught or perceived.

What does gentle nutrition look like? It’s different for everyone!

 

Here are some examples:

 

  • Having an extremely busy schedule so you choose frozen or convenience foods, but you try adding some fresh vegetable to the dish.
  • Following a gluten free eating style because you have celiac disease.
  • Choosing low FODMAP foods because you struggle with IBS flare ups and foods with low fermentable carbs feel better and don’t trigger symptoms.
  • Intentionally cooking your meals at home most days of the week.
  • Not giving nutrition much of a thought but including as many fruits and vegetables into your day as you feel like.

 

Gentle nutrition is determined by you based on what feels good in your body!

 

Prioritizing nutrition to whatever degree you feel is your choice (it’s not a “should”). You are making the decisions to engage in nutrition in a way that makes you and your body feel good (which embodies the meaning of self-care). Waking up every day and choosing food that helps you work your best, feel your best, and be your best IS a form of self-care.

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care, Not Self-Control

 

Gentle nutrition takes the approach that you’re going to choose to eat that salad because it makes you feel your best and you want to nourish yourself with foods that make you feel good (self-care).

 

Whereas traditional nutrition takes the approach that you need to eat that salad because it will help you lose weight, get you healthy, or you choose the salad because you feel ashamed to eat anything else, especially in front of others. It is what you “should” do (self-control).

 

Taking nutrition from this approach can be a challenge. If you feel yourself struggling with determining the difference between self-care and self-control when it comes to food choices, ask yourself these questions:

 

  • Do my actions and decisions around food come from a place that feels balanced, free, elastic, and fluid, or do they feel rigid, controlled, and restrictive?

 

  • If I make a choice that strays from nutrition recommendations, how do I feel?

 

Need support in Gentle Nutrition: Check out The Intuitive Nutrition Circle™ (aka The IN Circle™.) where you learn to integrate gentle nutrition with your Intuitive Eating practice.

 

Note: The Intuitive Eating Basics course is a pre-requisite for The IN Circle. But now you can get the Intuitive Eating Basics course AS PART of The IN Circle for a short time only at a special price. Click here for that option and use coupon code FOODPEACE at checkout!

Offer expires 4/1/22

 

 

I’ve Tried Intuitive Eating, and It Didn’t Work

Something I hear quite often is “Bonnie, I’ve tried Intuitive Eating before and it didn’t work for me.”

I’m wondering if this is something you’ve said before or think now. You gave it a go but didn’t end up finding peace with food and your body.

You realize that you were born an Intuitive Eater, and you wonder why you still can’t find food freedom. You feel stuck.

I bet that you love the concept of Intuitive Eating and even wonder why you haven’t heard about it before you did. It’s the best kept secret! But you just wish that it would “work” for you!

If you’ve tried Intuitive Eating and you are thinking that it just didn’t work, maybe you are facing some common roadblocks.

3 Common Roadblocks

There are a few common reasons why your past experience with Intuitive Eating just didn’t work.

  1. You were focused on weight loss and caught up in diet culture.
  2. You are not giving yourself full unconditional permission to eat the foods you enjoy.
  3. You aren’t truly focusing on Intuitive Eating.

Stuck on Weight Loss and Caught Up in Diet Culture

I get it. You’ve been focused on the scale for 5, 10, 20, maybe even 40 or more years. It’s not your fault. It’s the message that surrounds us all day, every day.

The struggle with weight loss and constantly being obsessed with the scale is a difficult one to shake. Diet culture tells you that to be worthy, you need to be “skinny”.

Here’s some questions to ponder:

  • What brought me to Intuitive Eating in the first place?
  • What do I fear about weight gain?
  • What are my fears of weight gain based on?
  • What does weight loss/gain mean to me?
  • If others did not make comments or care about my weight, how would I feel about my body?

Bonus Tip: Set a daily reminder and ask yourself “is my mind on weight today and how is it impacting my food choices.”

Afraid to Give Unconditional Permission to Eat

Before you began your Intuitive Eating journey, more than likely you’ve had foods that you considered “forbidden”.  You might still be feeling anxious around certain foods and having a hard time letting go of food labels and eating these foods.

Again, it’s understandable, so be gentle with yourself through the process.

Here’s some questions to ponder: 

  • Are you allowing yourself to eat the foods you want?
  • Who are you with when you are eating? Are you afraid of judgement?
  • Are you eating the food, but have guilt?

You’re Not Focused on Intuitive Eating

You began this journey to ultimately become an Intuitive Eater however, you’re just not focused on the journey. It all sounds great, the idea of having peace with food and total food freedom. But you aren’t really doing the work.

Truth is, it’s not an easy journey. I will never tell a client that it’s easy to recover from dieting and diet culture. But the work you put in now will pay off later.

Bonus tip: Put the same effort into healing from dieting that you’ve put into your dieting years.

Which roadblock are you bumping into? Let me know in the comments below.

Resource: Here’s a resource for you to begin your Intuitive Eating journey with a step-by-step approach.

 

“But You Have to Lose Weight…”

Emily logged onto Zoom for her appointment with me and shared the following:

“I told my mom and best friend that I’ve decided not to diet anymore. They had a shocked look on their faces and said, “but you have to lose weight.”

Have you experienced this too?

You are probably reading my blog because you know that diets have never worked for you and will never! You’ve been searching for a way out of the dieting quicksand, and you think you’ve found it with Intuitive Eating. But you are struggling because no one around you has seen the light like you have.

It’s incredibly challenging when your inner circle is dieting and thinks you should be too. That’s why it’s so important to be a part of a strong community of women who are on the same journey as you are of leaving dieting behind.

3 Ways a Community Can Help

(1) It provides a safe and secure environment where you can share experiences, seek support when necessary, and ask questions, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT.

(2) It provides an opportunity to connect with others. Each person in the community is striving and growing toward a common goal

(3) It keeps you motivated and accountable. With everyone in the community working toward the same common goal (breaking free of dieting and becoming an Intuitive Eater), it’s easier to stay accountable and motivated because others around you are doing the same! Everyone in the community has similar thoughts, beliefs and values around dieting and diet culture. It helps to know that you are not alone!

Giving Up Dieting is a Foreign Concept

The dominant paradigm in “weight management” or “weight loss” is to eat less and exercise more.

You now know that this is a very flawed paradigm, yet many people are trapped in outdated beliefs despite all the evidence that restriction and dieting are not moving the majority of people toward healthier, happier and more vibrant lives.

Yet, health professionals, physicians, family, friends and more all fuel the “weight loss” or “dieting” paradigm with biased and incorrect information, which allows the beliefs of the paradigm to continue.

Join me for a LIVE training today what you need to make the paradigm shift happen for you.

It’s all happening in my Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life Private Facebook Group. If you’re not a member yet, click here to join (it’s free!).

How to Eat Intuitively When Your Partner is Dieting

You’ve done it! You’ve committed to never diet again, to ditch diet culture and to truly learn to trust your inner wisdom as your guide to eating.

 

Congratulations. I know this was a big commitment!

 

And I also know how hard this can be if your partner or significant other has decided to jump on the New Year diet bandwagon.

 

So, how do you stay true to your desires and goals, while your partner is weighing and measuring food, avoiding carbs, and talking about it being a “good” or “bad” day? And worse yet, if they are telling you what YOU should or shouldn’t be eating or doing in relation to your food, body or clothes that you wear.

 

I’m going to break it down for you in 3 simple steps.  

 

1.Communication is Key!

The success in any relationship comes down to communication and respect. Ask your partner if they can set aside time to speak with you, that there is something important you want to discuss. When that time comes, explain that you want to share some things about your past that they may not know or realize. While your partner may know about your past or present food struggles, they may not know to what extent it has impacted your life.

 

Be open and be specific. Share about your dieting history, explain how dieting has made you feel, and the shame you’ve experienced each time you’ve regained the weight you lost.

 

2.Gently Educate About Intuitive Eating:

It’s possible your partner doesn’t understand what Intuitive Eating is. Or, they have misconceptions about it. This is not unusual. There’s a lot of misinformation on the internet about Intuitive Eating. Many people think if you stop dieting and embrace Intuitive Eating, you don’t care about your health.

 

This is a fallacy.

 

Explain to your partner that you are actually TAKING CARE of your health, both physically and mentally, by no longer dieting.

 

It’s important to have compassion for your partner as they have been swimming in the same diet culture toxic waters that you have. Lucky you, you are swimming out of these waters, but your partner may not be ready. At the very least, you’ve planted seeds, and have each agreed to respect each other’s journey.

 

3.Set Boundaries:

It’s possible that after the conversation, your partner will be convinced to join you on your Intuitive Eating journey. That’d be great! But the reality is, they may not be ready for it. And that’s okay too! The important thing is for you to set boundaries.

 

Here are some examples:

  • No talking about good and bad foods
  • No comments about what I am eating, or what you’re not eating
  • No diet talk, at all!
  • No body talk, whether that be body bashing or comments about weight loss

 

Consider what other boundaries you’d like to make. Make a poster board, and hang it in the kitchen/dining room, or any room where these conversations might happen!

 

At the end of the day, it’s always nice to have the support of your significant other. Give them time and space to learn, just like you’ve done. My guess is that over time, they will be right along side you eating intuitively!

 

CLICK HERE to join us at today’s LIVE training.

Missed the Live training? No problem. Replay is available inside the Facebook Group!

4 Ways to Deal with Food and Body Comments at Your Holiday Dinner

Why is it that people think they have the right to comment on what you’re eating or not eating? To me, this is synonymous with someone touching a pregnant woman’s belly.

 

No, this is not okay!

 

Yet, it happens All. The. Time.

 

Think back to your last holiday get-together. There you are enjoying the meal when Auntie Mary quietly (or not so quietly) says “Are you allowed to have that? I thought you were on a diet?”

 

Or your partner gives you “the eyes” as you reach for the holiday cookies at dessert time.

 

Or, maybe the conversation at the table is all about what diets everyone will start in the New Year!

 

I recognize that family get-togethers can pose some major obstacles as you navigate your path back towards Intuitive Eating.

 

Here are 4 ways to deal with these invading comments:

 

1.Manage your expectations, know your triggers. If you know that your parent, aunt, partner, cousin etc. typically makes these types of intrusive comments, be ready with a comeback for when they open their mouth. Try something like:

 

“It is not okay to comment on what I’m eating or not eating. Please focus on your own plate.”

 

Simple, straightforward, firm yet respectful at the same time.

 

2. Set boundaries. At the start of the holiday meal, set the boundaries that you would appreciate no diet talk at the table. You can say something like:

 

“I would like to ask a favor of everyone here. I have a hard time hearing about people’s diets, detoxes, plans etc. Those things have caused me to have a difficult relationship with food and my body, and I’m trying to recover. So, let’s keep the conversation “diet-free”.

 

3. Change the subject. When someone makes a comment that is triggering for you, just change the subject and say, “We haven’t seen each other in so long, what have you been up to lately?” Or, “have you read any new books recently. I’m looking for a recommendation.”

 

4. Practice self-care. Rest, movement and stress management are essential to calmly managing situations that otherwise might be irritating. Think about it. If you are exhausted, you have less patience and will either take it out on your family member or on the food. So take some time to build in rest, movement and stress management strategies to keep you calm, cool and collected.

 

What About Food Pushers?

 

A food pusher is someone who continuously asks you to have more food, even after you’ve stated that you don’t want, or that you’ve had enough.

 

We all probably know these types of people. But how do you deal with them?

 

Join me today for a LIVE Training where we will dig deeper into navigating negative food and body talk, AND how to deal with these food pushers.

It’s all happening in the Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life private Facebook Group right HERE. Join us!

 

 

It’s Okay if You’re Not Ready to Give Up Dieting

Not everybody is ready to hear that “diets don’t work”. For years, you’ve been trying all the different diets that hit the market in hopes of losing weight and keeping it off. But each time, you gain back most, if not all, of the weight you lost, and you are back at square one.

The Dieter’s Dilemma

The Dieter’s Dilemma starts with the desire to be thin. This desire leads to the start of your diet. Eventually, you experience cravings for foods you’ve been restricting. This leads to having a “loss of control” and “overeating”, maybe even binge eating on these foods. You regain the weight you lost, with a side dish of guilt and shame.

But then, the desire to be thin becomes strong again, and you start your next diet.

The cycle continues, until you acknowledge that diets don’t work, and there must be a better way to exist. There is.

Reject the Diet Mentality

The first step to no longer dieting is to reject the diet mentality. That means learning to acknowledge when the Food Police is shouting food rules at you, as well as barbs, criticisms, and judgement about you “not following the rules”.

This step will take time. Think about it. You’ve been following diet food rules for years. You’ve been listening to others tell you when to eat, how much to eat and what to eat. These rules have created cognitive distortions and it takes practice to learn to reframe these thoughts into more rational thoughts.

Tip: Every time you hear a diet thought pop up, pause and call it out. Challenge that thought right then and there!! Within time, you will see that the Food Police is losing it’s hold over you.

Intuitive Eating

If you consider the words Intuitive Eating, you can come to understand that you have the natural inborn instinct to know when you are hungry and full, and what you truly want to eat in that moment. You are born with that instinct.

According to the creators of Intuitive Eating, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, Intuitive Eating is a “self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought.”

There are 10 principles of Intuitive Eating which work in 2 main ways:

  1. They help you cultivate attunement to the physical sensations in your body so you can meet both your biological and psychological needs. These are sensations that you have likely not been paying attention to in regard to eating, because you were focused on following rules external to your body.
  2. They help remove the obstacles that may be present that interfere with you cultivating this attunement. These obstacles generally come from your mind and the beliefs and thoughts you have around food, eating and your body.

I express to my clients that it’s very important to begin the process of giving up dieting by working on mindset first, rather than trying to attune to the inner signals. When you still have a diet mindset running in the back of your mind, then it’s much harder to learn to eat when hungry and stop when full because the rules are still running the show.

But What About Weight?

Great question!

I know that you are unhappy with your current body (weight). That’s why you’ve been on and off multiple diets over your lifetime. But if you continue to pursue intentional weight loss, then you are continuing to diet. It’s not possible to learn to reject the diet mentality while also trying to lose weight.

Will you lose weight? The honest answer is, I don’t know. Only your body knows what it will do when you stop restricting and allow your body to land where it is genetically pre-determined to land.

Are you able to put the desire to change your body on the side for a little while? To acknowledge that the desire for weight loss is there, but you won’t actively pursue it?

If you are able to do that, then you are ready for the Intuitive Eating journey. If you are not ready to put weight loss on the sideline, then you’re not ready to begin your Intuitive Eating journey.

And that is okay! It may take you some time to come around to it. And when you do, please know that I am here for you.

To get a taste of what it’s like to break free of diets, pop your name and email in the boxes below to a 3 day experience like no other!

 

 

3 Big Reasons to Take Down Diet Culture

How many times have you seen, heard, or gotten into a heated discussion on the topic of the latest diet trends or weight loss tricks?  It’s everywhere these days, on TV, social media, books, and people claiming they have the hot new approach to help you shed weight fast!

Being a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I am constantly asked what I think about the latest diet trend that has been pushed on us.  I have spent the last many years of my career helping clients break the spell of diets and dismantle Diet Culture beliefs.  And, when I’m asked those questions about recommending a new diet, it reminds me that there is so much more work to do to help people learn to trust in themselves again.

A major reason that I am so passionate about helping people break free from diets is because of the harm that Diet Culture causes.  Diet Culture is a system of beliefs that focuses on and values weight, shape and size over health, and it equates thinness with higher status and worthiness.

I see the damages of Diet Culture starting younger and younger. Little girls just 9 and 10 years old asking their moms for a diet. These little girls covering themselves up with sweaters and baggie clothes because they are ashamed of their bodies.

This makes me sad. But it also makes me angry at Diet Culture and lights the fire under me to continue to push back against Diet Culture and help women, and these young girls, love themselves for the beautiful person that they are  and respect their bodies for the amazing things it does every day to keep them alive.

3 Reasons to Shut Down Diet Culture

#1: Diet Culture is Dishonest

“Stay away from carbs, they make you fat”.

“The reason you aren’t losing weight is because of all the dairy you consume”.

“Cut out gluten from your diet, it’s really bad for you”.

Diet Culture has spent a lot of time and money trying to convince you that there are certain foods out there that are “good” or “bad’ for you. The food they characterize as “good” will help you lose weight, while the “bad” foods will make you gain weight.

Food fads are encouraged by Diet Culture with the support of the food industry. When scientific research is published, Diet Culture cherry-picks the information that best supports their agenda and launches campaigns to herd consumers to jump on their bandwagon, spending money on their products, lining their pockets.

Listen, there is a difference between implementing nutrition guidelines for your health, and demonizing foods because of the belief that it’ll make you gain weight (or prevent you from losing weight). Now, you might say “no, I’m avoiding this food because it’s not good for my health”. If in fact, this belief is not tied in any way to your thoughts about your weight, then yes, perhaps not eating that food might be in your best interest. But if that belief is tied in any way into your body size, then it is being co-opted by Diet Culture.

If you need further clarity on this, just hit reply!

#2: Diet Culture Disregards Your Best Interest

Any eating pattern that emphasizes how you look over your mental and physical well-being is detrimental. Diet Culture thrives on black-and-white thinking. Eat foods on the “good” list and you’ll lose weight (“good”); eat foods on the “bad” list and you’ll get fat (“bad”). Thin = win in Diet Culture’s mind.

Here’s the thing – people are literally dying to be thin and Diet Culture completely disregards this. Maybe you have suffered with an eating disorder or know someone that is. It destroys your life. Every waking moment is spent worrying about what you’re eating, wearing, how you look, how other people are looking at you etc. It is all consuming. Yet Diet Culture continues to push and push and push.

Your body does so many amazing things for you every day. Just imagine if you didn’t have the use of your hands, legs, or eyes. Would how small your body is be important then?

There is peace in accepting your body as it is in this very moment. This doesn’t mean that you’re “giving up”. This just means that you refuse to let Diet Culture push you any longer. And, instead, you will focus on giving your loving body the respect it deserves, while feeding it well and moving in a way that feels good.

#3: Diet Culture Destroys Your Self-Worth

One of the biggest reasons to shut down Diet Culture is because it’s constantly giving you the message that you’re not good enough. It makes you question your self-worth, often calling attention to things you never considered flaws before.

“Got a muffin top? Never eat these 5 foods again to get rid of it!”

“Do your thighs touch? Do this cleanse to fix that problem!”

Messages like these are toxic to women of all ages. It’s teaching them from a young age that they are nothing more than a sum of their parts and if those parts don’t add up to an unrealistic ideal, they need to do whatever it takes to get there. This has the potential to lead them into a dangerous relationship with food and exercise, twisting their self-perception. Diet Culture destroys your self-esteem and ultimately your self-worth. You come to believe that you are not worthy of love, not worthy of that job you are going for, not worthy of friendship, kindness etc. Diet culture steals your happiness and breaks you down.

It’s Time to Defy Diet Culture

The truth is that body size doesn’t always equate with health. There are plenty of people who are in smaller bodies who have a plethora of health issues. On the flip side, there are people in larger bodies that have no medical issues at all. Diet Culture wants you to be at war with your body because that’s how companies who support it make their billions of dollars every year.  Don’t fall for these tricks, it’s time to break free of Diet Culture and get off the hamster wheel of dieting, for good!

Do you want to join me in shutting down Diet Culture? Let me know in the comments below

3 No Diet Day Action Steps (and a Free Online Workshop)

Today is International No Diet Day! At first, this may sound like “yay, I can go off my diet today and eat whatever I want, how awesome!”. But it doesn’t mean that at all!

International No Diet Day is a worldwide celebration of body acceptance and a day to declare a life free from dieting.

Mary Evans Young started this movement in 1992 after battling anorexia and body image issues. She wanted to help herself and her friends to fully embrace their bodies for a day! Little did she know that it would become a global movement!

Stop what you’re doing right now, look into your eyes in the mirror, and declare this the first day of NO MORE DIETING, NO MORE RESTRICTION, NO MORE BODY SHAMING! You got this!

Drowning in Diet Culture

In this age of social media, it’s almost impossible to go a day without hearing about a celebrity’s new diet miracle or seeing pictures of famous new moms strolling out of the hospital in skinny jeans and stilettos just days after giving birth.

Everywhere you turn, there are people trying to lose weight either by dieting, over-exercising, or both. There is an entire diet culture focused on highlighting the lives of famous people in order to feed your insecurities.

This is all a marketing ploy! The Diet Culture is a multi-billion dollar industry designed to make you feel bad about yourself. The diet companies aren’t interested in your well-being; they’re interested in how they can get you to hate yourself so you’re willing to pay them to make everything better. It’s a scam; you don’t need them – you’re fabulous just as you are!

Debunking the Diet Myth

Diets are set up to make it seem as if it’s your fault they don’t work, but the truth is, it’s them.

Dieting is a cycle of weight loss followed by weight gain, which leads to negative body image and the resolution to try harder next time. So you try again. And the same thing happens. So you try again. And so on, with some people dieting for decades without “success.”

Is that you?

As you know, I have dedicated my career to teaching people how to respect and love their bodies without continuing the chronic dieting lifestyle.

3 No Diet Day Action Steps

Today, I ask that you take part in this effort to change the mentality you have about dieting.

  1. Challenge the idea that there is a “perfect” body for everyone. Appreciate the beauty in everyone, including yourself.
  2. Look past the smoke and mirrors of the diet industry. Question the validity of their claims and scrutinize who benefits the most from chronic dieting.
  3. Commit to this day being free of diets, restriction, weight obsession, food worry…and the first day towards true food freedom!

I know this is a scary thought! But I do have faith in you! And, you know that I am here to take this journey with you; I will walk with you hand-in-hand! Reach out HERE if you’d like to jump on the phone for a quick call to explore this further!

FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP

If you’re experiencing emotional eating, know that diet restriction will only make it worse!

Learn how to triumph over emotional eating in my 5 Day FREE Online Workshop, starting Monday May 11, 2020!

There will be daily live training, an online community of support and PRIZES!!

Learn more and register at THIS LINK!

3 Big Reasons to Take Down Diet Culture

How many times have you seen, heard, or gotten into a heated discussion on the topic of the latest diet trends or weight loss tricks?  It’s everywhere these days, on TV, social media, books, and people claiming they have the hot new approach to help you shed weight fast!

Being a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I am constantly asked what I think about the latest diet trend that has been pushed on us.  I have spent the last many years of my career helping clients break the spell of diets and dismantle Diet Culture beliefs.  And, when I’m asked those questions about recommending a new diet, it reminds me that there is so much more work to do to help people learn to trust in themselves again.

A major reason that I am so passionate about helping people break free from diets is because of the harm that Diet Culture causes.

Diet Culture is a system of beliefs that focuses on and values weight, shape and size over health, and it equates thinness with higher status and worthiness.

I see the damages of Diet Culture starting younger and younger. Little girls just 9 and 10 years old asking their moms for a diet. These little girls covering themselves up with sweaters and baggie clothes because they are ashamed of their bodies.

This makes me sad. But it also makes me angry at Diet Culture and lights the fire under me to continue to push back against Diet Culture and help women, and these young girls, love themselves for the beautiful person that they are  and respect their bodies for the amazing things it does every day to keep them alive.

3 Reasons to Take Down Diet Culture

#1: Diet Culture is Dishonest

“Stay away from carbs, they make you fat”.

“The reason you aren’t losing weight is because of all the dairy you consume”.

“Cut out gluten from your diet, it’s really bad for you”.

Diet Culture has spent a lot of time and money trying to convince you that there are certain foods out there that are “good” or “bad’ for you. The food they characterize as “good” will help you lose weight, while the “bad” foods will make you gain weight.

Food fads are encouraged by Diet Culture with the support of the food industry. When scientific research is published, Diet Culture cherry-picks the information that best supports their agenda and launches campaigns to herd consumers to jump on their bandwagon, spending money on their products, lining their pockets.

Listen, there is a difference between implementing nutrition guidelines for your health, and demonizing foods because of the belief that it’ll make you gain weight (or prevent you from losing weight). Now, you might say “no, I’m avoiding this food because it’s not good for my health”. If in fact, this belief is not tied in any way to your thoughts about your weight, then yes, perhaps not eating that food might be in your best interest. But if that belief is tied in any way into your body size, then it is being co-opted by Diet Culture.

If you need further clarity on this, just hit reply!

#2: Diet Culture Disregards Your Best Interest

Any eating pattern that emphasizes how you look over your mental and physical well-being is detrimental. Diet Culture thrives on black-and-white thinking. Eat foods on the “good” list and you’ll lose weight (“good”); eat foods on the “bad” list and you’ll get fat (“bad”). Thin = win in Diet Culture’s mind.

Here’s the thing – people are literally dying to be thin and Diet Culture completely disregards this. Maybe you have suffered with an eating disorder or know someone that is. It destroys your life. Every waking moment is spent worrying about what you’re eating, wearing, how you look, how other people are looking at you etc. It is all consuming. Yet Diet Culture continues to push and push and push.

Your body does so many amazing things for you every day. Just imagine if you didn’t have the use of your hands, legs, or eyes. Would how small your body is be important then?

There is peace in accepting your body as it is in this very moment. This doesn’t mean that you’re “giving up”. This just means that you refuse to let Diet Culture push you any longer. And, instead, you will focus on giving your loving body the respect it deserves, while feeding it well and moving in a way that feels good.

#3: Diet Culture Destroys Your Self-Worth

One of the biggest reasons to shut down Diet Culture is because it’s constantly giving you the message that you’re not good enough. It makes you question your self-worth, often calling attention to things you never considered flaws before.

“Got a muffin top? Never eat these 5 foods again to get rid of it!”

“Do your thighs touch? Do this cleanse to fix that problem!”

Messages like these are toxic to women of all ages. It’s teaching them from a young age that they are nothing more than a sum of their parts and if those parts don’t add up to an unrealistic ideal, they need to do whatever it takes to get there. This has the potential to lead them into a dangerous relationship with food and exercise, twisting their self-perception. Diet Culture destroys your self-esteem and ultimately your self-worth. You come to believe that you are not worthy of love, not worthy of that job you are going for, not worthy of friendship, kindness etc. Diet culture steals your happiness and breaks you down.

It’s Time to Take DOWN Diet Culture

The truth is that body size doesn’t always equate with health. There are plenty of people who are in smaller bodies who have a plethora of health issues. On the flip side, there are people in larger bodies that have no medical issues at all. Diet Culture wants you to be at war with your body because that’s how companies who support it make their billions of dollars every year.  Don’t fall for these tricks, it’s time to break free of Diet Culture and get off the hamster wheel of dieting, for good!

Do you want to join me in taking down Diet Culture? Let me know in the comments below!

Intuitive Eating is Your “Factory-Installed” Mode

More times than not, a client will sit opposite me (in my office or on video chat) when the light bulb goes on! The light bulb that I’m referring to is the fact that being an intuitive eater came along with their body when they were born. It’s “factory installed” but unfortunately over the years, it became faulty. Today I’d like to explore the reasons why.

Well-Meaning Parents

By no means am I looking to blame your parents. Most parents are well-meaning, although I do recognize that this is not the case all the time. But in most instances, parents want their children to eat well and grow well, and they believe the latter is determined by the former. So, as a baby, if you pushed away breast or bottle as a sign to mom that you had enough, but she felt that you didn’t, she would encourage you to nurse a little longer or drink a little more from the bottle.

As a toddler, when you were more interested in playing than eating, perhaps your mom forced you to sit at the table until you had x amount of bites, or she’d run after you with a forkful of food. In each of these instances (and others that I’m sure you can share), you are getting the message at a young age that you cannot trust what your body is telling you. Mom must be right after all. It’s no surprise then that now, as an adult, you continue to have mistrust in your body’s signals.

The Diet Industry

You decided that it was time to lose weight and you followed a diet because that is the cultural paradigm on how to “manage” your weight. But with each diet you followed, you lost further trust in your own body’s signals. You ate when, how much and what the diet told you to, regardless of whether you were hungry or not. You played by the rules, but with each diet game you played, you moved further and further away from your “factory installed mode” of eating.

Quick story: I have a friend who was on a diet. We were out together and at 11 am she pulled out a bar to eat. She said, “I’m not hungry now, but this diet I’m on says I must eat every 2-3 hours, so I am”. That sounded so wrong to me, but it wasn’t my place to say anything to her.

Have you found yourself in this type of situation too?

The Thin Ideal

It’s very likely that you’ve been effected by society’s messages of the thin ideal, the concept of the ideal body of a woman being thin and slender. That to be worthy in this world, you need to possess a thin body. This concept has led to many disordered eating patterns and eating disorders in young girls and women of all ages.

If you’ve been striving to achieve this body, then more than likely you’ve been ignoring your “factory installed” mode of being intuitive and eating when hungry and stopping when comfortably full.

Resetting to Factory Installed Mode

When the light bulb goes on for my clients, their immediate thought is “we need to come with an instruction manual”, but then they follow that with “wait, we do, It’s inborn.

Yep!

So how do you get back to the way you were born?

  • Step 1: Say NO to Diets – Recognize that diets don’t work long term. Sure, maybe you lost a few pounds (or more than a few) when you were “strict” and “following” the diet. But it wasn’t sustainable and for the majority of people, it never will be.

 

  • Step 2: Tune Inward, Not Outward – Decide today that you will no longer base your eating on external sources, whether that be a diet, a health coach or a guru you find on the internet. If you stop and listen to the signals your body gives you, you will become acquainted with them again. Do know, however, that it takes time. If you’ve been dieting for decades, those signals have likely silenced. Be patient. You’ll be glad you did.

 

  • Step 3: Reject the Thin Ideal – As hard as this step might be, come to terms that your genetic blueprint probably isn’t for that thin body you’ve been chasing after all these years. Give up the chase, work on respecting your body wherever it is now, and allow nature to take its course. Only your body knows what shape, size and weight is natural for it, so take the pressure off your body (and yourself) and enjoy the life you are living.

 

I have many resources that can help you as we move into 2020. Schedule a complementary call with me and let’s restore your body to it’s “factory installed mode” of intuitive eating.