Tag Archive for: diet mentality

Intuitive Eating on Vacation

Have I mentioned yet that summer is my favorite season? Yes, it is!

 

The hot weather, spending time outdoors, longer days, time off…I can on and on. I just love it.

 

Whether you’re planning a weekend away, a visit to a tropical island, or a staycation, food and eating challenges might come up, especially for those who are in the process of recovering from dieting. If this is you, then keep reading!

 

If you feel the urge to say, “I’m on vacation, I’ll enjoy myself and start over when I get home”, then please know that you’re not alone. This is what’s called the “vacation mindset.” When you’re on vacation, the sneaky diet mentality and food police might join you.

 

This never pans out well. So, let’s discuss how you can continue your intuitive eating practice while you’re soaking up the sun!

 

  1. Avoid the All or Nothing Mindset

If you go into vacation thinking “I won’t eat anything I shouldn’t, or “I’m just going to eat and deal with it when I get home”, you’re thinking in extremes. Instead, commit to staying fully present while on vacation, and continue to make purposeful food choices, just like you’re doing at home.

 

  1. Pay Attention to Your Fullness Signals

Go ahead and explore new foods and enjoy familiar ones. Remind yourself to check in mid-meal to see how you are feeling. As you become more satisfied, remind yourself that you can come back and order this food again. You don’t need to eat it all, to a point of being overfull and uncomfortable. That just takes away from the whole experience.

 

  1. Listen for Hunger

When you’re out and busy trying to jam all the activities you would like to do into a short time frame, you may forget to stop and eat lunch and then feel overhungry by dinner. Throughout the day check-in with your body and listen for those hunger cues. Make sure you carry snacks with you so you can answer the hunger when it calls.

 

  1. Make Movement Fun

Going to the hotel gym on vacation may not be your cup of tea, and that’s okay. However, there are many movements you may enjoy doing, that you can do while vacationing. Or you may want to try something new, such a hiking as local trail, or kayaking in the clear waters. Find an activity that is appealing to you, and remove all expectations. Just have fun!

 

We all need a break, and the summer is a great time to take a vacation! Tell the food police they are not welcome and enjoy yourself while making memories!

How to Tackle Nighttime Overeating and Binge Eating

Do you find yourself coming home from work after a long day and immediately heading to the fridge? Does it feel like this eating is “out of control”?

There are many reasons why you may be overeating or binge eating at night when you are not physically hungry.

  1. You’re not eating enough during the da,y leading to feelings of ravenous hunger at night.
  2. You are eating for reasons other than biological hunger, such as emotional hunger, boredom, loneliness, sadness, etc.
  3. You ignore the signs of hunger throughout the day.
  4. You are using food as a way to unwind or relax at night due to a hard day or general life stressors.
  5. Eating at night is a habit or a part of your routine (that you just can’t break)

Once you’ve identified when and why you may overeat and binge eat at night—how do you confront this issue?

Here are four ways to end the struggle with nighttime eating:

(1) Eat consistently throughout the day.

Eating meals throughout the day ensures sustained energy, limits glucose spikes and crashes and can be just what you need to stop overeating and bingeing at night.

 

Ensure your meals have a balanced amount of macronutrients—carbohydrates, protein and fat.

 

If you are a chronic dieter, it’s quite possible that you aren’t including this very important nutrient with your meals – carbohydrates! Part of embracing Intuitive Eating is recognizing that all food groups are nutrients fit! Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your body. Add carbs back to your meals throughout the day, and you may just see those nighttime binges disappear.

 

(2) Power up with snacks.

Overeating at night is more than likely due to a lack of sustained fuel throughout the day. Having large gaps between meals with no food can leave you feeling ravenous by the time your next meal comes around.

 

If you have a good rule that states “no eating in between meals”, it’s time to toss that rule to the curb. Adding in a snack, either between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner could prevent those serious hunger pangs that leads to overeating, both at dinner and late at night.

 

Here are some snack suggestions:

  • Cheese, fruit, and crackers
  • Yogurt and granola
  • A handful of trail mix
  • An apple or banana with almond butter

 

(3) Listen to your hunger cues.

Ignoring hunger cues will more than likely lead to overeating. Choosing to listen to the signals of your body will allow you to give your body what it needs. This in turn will help you build back trust with your body.

 

This feeling of trust is important to develop since dieting has stripped you of trust. If you’re holding onto a limiting belief around hunger and fullness, then work on reframing these beliefs into more empowering true beliefs.

 

For example, if you think “I can’t trust my hunger and fullness signals”, flip it around and start to tell yourself “I CAN eat when hungry and stop when full.”

 

(4) Check in on old dieter habits.

Do you find yourself defaulting to old dieting habits? Do you:

  • Only include certain foods in your meals
  • Deny yourself certain foods because they’re “bad”
  • Skip meals
  • Hold onto food rules (ex: no snacking during the day)
  • Ignore your hunger cues

 

These habits are deep rooted in your diet mentality—check in with yourself to identify if these habits may be surfacing. The only solution is to grant yourself unconditional permission to eat and allow yourself foods that satisfy you.

 

Still stuck in the spell of diets? Pop your name and email in the boxes below and start your journey towards breaking the spell of diets and developing TRUST!

 

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.

 

I’ve Been “Bad” Today, So I Might as Well…”

If you’ve ever dieted (and you likely have if you’re reading this blog), this statement probably sounds too familiar to you. It goes like this:

I’ve been bad today, so I might as well…

  • “Start again tomorrow.”
  • “Start fresh on Monday.”
  • “Just try to do better tomorrow.”

The “start again tomorrow” mentality is your diet mentality speaking and comes from eating what you consider “bad” foods, and/or not exercising and/or binge eating etc.

Typical Scenario:

 You are being really “good” on your diet, eating healthy all day long. But then, you were triggered by a fight with your partner, and you ended the night in a pint of ice cream. You now say: “My whole day is ruined.”

You feel as though the entire day is “ruined” because while you ate “clean” or “healthy” for the whole day, you canceled all that out with what you ate at night. When you reach this point, you feel defeated and focus on all the “damage” you’ve done. This in turn has you completely abandoning your “healthy eating” habits while engaging in a free-for-all with the foods you’ve deemed “bad”. Until of course, you “start over”.

Starting Over Cycle

The above scenario triggers the responses I mentioned above, which are:

  • “I’ll figure it out later”
  • “I’ll start fresh Monday”
  • “I’ll start again tomorrow”

However, once “tomorrow” or Monday comes, the cycle will repeat itself.

Healthy eating all day > indulge in a “bad” food > free-for-all >“I’ll start again tomorrow.”

This cycle is deeply rooted in diet mentality and can be very dangerous to both your mental and physical health.

Getting Out of the Trap

While you understand this trap you fall into, and you promise yourself you won’t do it again, it inevitably happens.

So how can you NOT fall into this trap?

  1. Get rid of the diet food rules: Yes, the first step is to stop dieting and to throw away all the rules you have around food. Oftentimes, you are fully aware that these rules haven’t served you well, yet it’s a scary thought to give them up. I get it! That’s why support is so important, you don’t have to do this alone. Click here to join my free Facebook community and get help throwing away the rules.

 

  1. Stop trying to eat perfectly. There is no one perfect way to eat! When we strive to be perfect, the moment you deviate by even one bite, you are ready to throw in the towel. This is called the “what the hell effect” (sound familiar?)

 

  1. Acknowledge Nutritional Needs Diversity (yes, I made that term up!). Basically, everyone has unique nutritional needs. No two people are the same, so trying to follow a set of rules and eating pattern that is dictated to you will always lead to you falling “off the wagon” (diet language), and “I’ll start again tomorrow.” The key is to figure out what feels best in your body to meet your unique nutritional needs.

The diet mentality runs deep. But you CAN chip away at this mindset. Have confidence in yourself and have patience!

And, of course, reach out for support if you feel it’ll be helpful:

Free Facebook Group: Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life

Free Session: www.talkwithbonnie.com

 

How to Stop Mealtime Battles

Do you look forward to your meals? Or are they often a battleground?

What about the buffet at a party?  Or the smorg at a wedding? Or just plain old Thursday night pizza night?

Do you constantly hear yourself say…

  •  “should I or shouldn’t I?”
  • “I can have, I can’t have?”
  • ” I want it, but I shouldn’t have it”
  • “darn, I can’t believe I ate that”

The inner voices of the chronic dieter are constantly shouting rules about what you should or shouldn’t eat. It makes food the enemy and mealtimes a battle ground. All in the name of weight loss!

But it shouldn’t be this way. In fact –

Food is supposed to bring us pleasure!

Yes, we are supposed to walk away from a meal feeling satisfied and happy. But all to often, if a dieter enjoys their meal, it comes with a side of guilt.

Ending the Battle with Food

So, how do you end the battle with food and regain the pleasure in eating?

By practicing food freedom.

Food freedom means YOU are in charge of the food choices you make and what you choose to eat, instead of letting outside food rules dictate this to you!

The goal is simple: decouple the act of eating from the thought that you need to be losing weight.

If you keep making food decisions with the end goal of weight loss, you will not recapture food freedom and experience the ultimate pleasure in your meals.

4 Ways to Start Practicing Food Freedom

1.Decide to commit:

Commit to not following food rules anymore. Commit to throwing them out the window. Commit to doing the best you can at this moment to start taking charge of your eating.

You will have to be tough with yourself on this one. It’s all too easy to fall back to another diet when you’re just not feeling great one day.

Nope. Draw that line in the sand that symbolized that today is the day that you won’t fall prey to the dieting messages anymore. YOU are in charge of your food choices and your eating! YAY!

2.Slowly start to eat one “forbidden” food at a time.

You know all those foods you fight with at mealtime? No more! There are no good or bad foods, remember that.

Slowly, begin to enjoy once-forbidden foods again and again until they lose the power they once had over you

This is not easy, I know!! If you need help, just reach out to me HERE.

3.Write a letter to yourself as to why you are choosing food freedom

 I’m sure there’s a LOT you could write in this letter. So go ahead and give it a try.

Why are you choosing food freedom now?

Here are some examples to get you started:

  • “Dieting has never worked for me in the past.”
  • “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life focusing on food.”
  • “I might “overeat” once it a while, and that is okay. It’s a choice I am making, and it does not define me”

4. Join us!

Come on over to the Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life private Facebook Group. Join other women on the journey towards food freedom. It’s free!

How to Change Your Diet Mindset in 3 Steps

Let’s face it, the way we think determines what we do. This is true of most any area of our life à food, weight, relationships, career etc.

 

In the world of dieting, your thoughts play a big role in the actions you take, or don’t take.

 

“I’ll never be able to lose weight.”

“I can’t change my eating habits; I’ve tried and always fail.”

“I’m a loser, a failure, not even worthy of spending time and money on myself.”

 

These are examples of negative self-talk. Very destructive thoughts and words that keep you cycling in despair.

 

You’re probably all too familiar with the negative self-criticism that perpetuates the vicious cycle of dieting.

 

The same holds true if you’ve been working on Intuitive Eating.

 

Each time you think you can’t succeed at learning to be an Intuitive Eater, you are strengthening a self-fulfilling prophecy so that you don’t.

 

If you think you can’t, you won’t. If you think you can, you will.

 

3 Steps to Changing Your Mindset

 

Step 1: Become Aware.

Take the time to consider what your thoughts are relating to food, body, weight, etc. Are you even aware of these thoughts? Is this the first time you’re stopping to think about them? Are these thoughts on autopilot?

Once you become aware and identify your thought patterns, consider how they have been impacting your relationship with food and your body. How has these thoughts affected your feelings, your behaviors and ultimately your results?

 

Step 2: Assess Importance.

You are in charge of your thoughts and your actions. No one else. Now that you have become more aware of them, you’ll want to take time to consider if this is something worth your time to invest in changing them.

Is it important to you if you change your mindset? Why, or why not?

 

Step 3: Do the Work.

Now what do you do with the info you gathered from steps 1 and 2? You do the work to make the change you so desire. And it will take work. But it is work that will change your life. As you practice changing your thoughts, you will see that your beliefs change, your feelings change, your behaviors change, and your results change.

But you’ve got to do the work.

 

Mind Your Language While Doing the Work

Ever notice how often you say “I’ll try”? “I’ll try not to eat when I’m upset”, “I’ll try not to say “I should have” or “I shouldn’t have”.

Using the word “I’ll try” gives the message that you will less likely follow through, versus saying “I will”.

Replace “I can’t” with “I can”.

Replace “I’ll try” with “I will”.

 

Support is a Click Away

Click video graphic below to access Free Support.

 

 

 

 

Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life Online Community – Free Facebook Group!

 

Enjoying the Holidays WITHOUT the Fear of Weight Gain

Join me today for a deeper dive LIVE training into today’s topic right HERE. If you’re not a member, just click to join.

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You love the holiday season, but you also fear the holiday season. You know what I mean. You love the get-togethers (even though this year they will look very different) and you love the food! But you are also worried that you will gain weight over the holidays, well, because you always do.

 

Why do you gain weight over the holiday season? It’s a question I ask you to think about.

 

Is it because there is delicious food and pastries constantly around your home and you are eating for what seems like 24/7?

 

Is it because it’s hard to “resist” your favorite food when everyone else is enjoying it?

 

Is it because you figure you’ll just enjoy it now, after all “it’s the holidays”, and you’ll get back “on track” on January 1st?

 

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, it’s your DIET MENTALITY speaking.

 

(And if you answered no, but there is another reason you gain weight over the holidays, please share in the comments below. I’d love to chat about it.)

 

Avoiding the Holiday Weight Gain Mentality

It might seem like changing your mindset is difficult. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it IS possible. Here are 3 ways:

  1. Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you CAN, you won’t. So, take a moment and ask – “Do I really want to change my mindset?” If you think for one minute that changing your mindset means you will feel deprived, you will continue in the diet mentality. Why? Because restriction, whether physically or psychologically, will lead to deprivation which leads to binge eating.

 

Commit to removing all thoughts of diets, weight loss/gain, and black and white thinking. Just this commitment alone will change the results you’ll get.

 

  1. Promise yourself you will NOT start a new diet in January. Oh yes, it’s SO easy to say you’ll start over in the New Year and that THIS year will be the year that you finally lose weight, right? This statement alone gives you the permission you are seeking to eat with abandon during the month of December. But this never works out the way you plan.

 

This year, promise yourself that you will absolutely not repeat the mistakes of past years. And remember, if there is even a tiny thought in your subconscious that you will in fact start a diet in January, your behaviors around food will be affected. So, make this promise to yourself, both consciously and subconsciously.

 

  1. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. You want the apple pie? Enjoy a piece – at dessert time when everyone else is eating it, not later in the kitchen sneaking a piece when no one is looking.

 

You don’t gain weight by enjoying a holiday meal with dessert. Or even two. But you do gain weight when you deprive yourself and sneak eat later in the evening. Which by the way, then leads you to do the same the next day, and the next, until you “start over”. See how the diet mentality works here?

 

Tell yourself you can eat what you want; the key is to stay tuned in and present while you are eating. This way, you savor and enjoy it, without any guilt.

I will be delving deeper into these ideas today on a free training: How to Avoid the Weight Gain Mentality. It’s happening in my private Facebook Group, so join us here!

 

 

 

 

5 Reasons for Your Clean the Plate Mentality

“What signals the end of your meal?”

This is a question that I ask my clients. And most of the time the answer is “when my plate is empty”.

This response is not uncommon if you’ve been a lifelong dieter. In today’s blog, I will highlight some of the reasons why you might be a member of the “Clean the Plate Club”.

5 Reasons You Might Be a Member of the Clean the Plate Club

  1. Lessons from Childhood: You might have been taught by well-meaning parents to clean your plate. Maybe you were rewarded for doing so, punished for not doing so, or were made to feel guilty if you didn’t eat everything on your plate (“the children in China are starving”). Let me emphasize the words “well-meaning parents”. I’m not putting blame on your parents, no no no. I’m just saying that in some households, this is a strict rule and you’ve learned to obey this rule for fear of punishment.

 

  1. Sense of Entitlement: You are on a diet, counting and measuring every ounce of food you are “allowed” to eat at a meal. There is no way you aren’t going to eat every last bite; you have “earned” it, you are “entitled” to it, and gosh darn, you are going to eat it. This is the mindset of a person who follows the rules of diets which tell them what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. It’s not your fault. It’s just a nasty side effect of dieting.

 

  1. Waste-Not Mindset: You value and respect the dollar, and food, which is great. But to what extent? If you eat all that’s on your plate beyond your level of comfortable fullness, because you don’t want to waste money or food, give thought to the fact that while you might be respecting the dollar, you are not respecting your body. I’m not saying to throw the food away. You can put it away in the fridge to finish at a later time. And yes, even if it’s a small amount.

 

  1. Ingrained Habit of Finishing All Food: We all develop habits over time. And perhaps your habit is to finish the entire “portion” of food, be that a sandwich or a snack bag of peanuts, regardless if you are hungry any longer. The great thing about habits are that we were not born with them, they are learned behaviors. Which means, they can be unlearned when they don’t serve us well.

 

  1. Food Insecurity: If food was not readily available when you grew up, it might be harder for you to respect your fullness and stop eating when you are comfortable. This can take time to work through. Be gentle and compassionate with yourself.

 

Respecting your fullness takes time. Knowing that you can eat the food you are eating at any time is also very helpful to being able to end your meal when you are comfortably full (as is starting the meal at a comfortable level of hunger, and not ravenous).

Here is a video on this topic to help you even more!

After viewing, if you have any questions or need help on your Intuitive Eating Journey, please head to www.TalkWithBonnie.com to set up a complementary call with me.

“Eat this, Don’t Eat That” Never Works: 2 Case Studies

After years of being told “eat this, don’t eat that”, it’s logical that you just want to be in charge of your own eating decisions. Yet, that can be a scary proposition if you aren’t sure any longer how to eat. It’s more than likely all the food rules you’ve been given have been for the end goal of weight loss, and mostly under the guise of “for your health”.

But what if we put weight loss on the side for now. What if learning how to eat to manage blood glucose levels, lower cholesterol levels and improve energy can be done without the worry of your weight?

That would be amazing.

Charles’s Story

Let me share a story with you. Charles (name changed for privacy) came to see me with a diagnosis of uncontrolled diabetes. He has type 2 diabetes for many years, is on several medications but is still having a hard time getting his blood glucose into target range. He’s been focusing all these years on losing weight to manage diabetes and has been busy counting calories and restricting his intake of wholesome food that he was told to avoid if he wants to lose weight. “Eat this, don’t eat that” became a mantra he heard all too often. So, he chose pre-portioned meals and snacks that were marketed for weight loss. He didn’t lose weight, nor was he able to bring his blood glucose down.

I suggested he put the worry of weight loss on the side for now and instead focus on understanding what is happening is his body in terms of glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. He started working with my in my Healthy Living with Diabetes Program™ and he quickly learned how his body processes carbs, how to plan meals to match this ability, and the many variables aside from food that can impact his blood glucose.

Fast forward 4 months and Charles’s blood glucose and A1C are well within target range and he has minimized his risk of diabetes complications. Did he lose weight? It just so happens he did, but the weight loss was an OUTCOME of his habit and behaviors changes. It was never the focus.

James’s Story

Now let’s look at another client, also with type 2 diabetes, not well-managed. His lovely wife reached out to me for help. She is so worried about James’s health (name changed for privacy), she’s at her wits end.

James had a history of yo-yo dieting, having lost and gained 100 pounds a few times in his life. But now things are different. He was diagnosed with diabetes yet he’s not taking responsibility to learn how to manage his blood glucose levels. She made an appointment to see me, and I asked her to speak with James about joining the session. He did.

While James was reluctant to share too much in session, he did listen as I shared with him the process I use to educate and empower my clients to learn about their diabetes, and how to best care for themselves. He did seem somewhat interested but was unable to commit to stop dieting in an effort to get healthier.

James’s wife told me after the session that he doesn’t like people telling him what to do, which is what happened his whole life when dieting. I assured her that in weight-neutral diabetes care, it’s the exact opposite. The client is in the driver’s seat. I am a passenger and act as a co-pilot in teaching and educating.

Letting Go of the Diet Mentality

Whether you have diabetes or not, if you’ve been dieting to lose weight with hopes of getting “healthier”, chances are you are still dieting and on the proverbial diet roller coaster (and not much healthier!). Getting out of the diet mentality is not easy, but it IS possible. It means trying something you’ve never tried before – that is to learn to trust yourself to make the best decisions for yourself around food and eating.

Free Resource if You Have Diabetes

If you have diabetes and want to learn how to manage your blood glucose without restriction and dieting, download my free eBook: 5 Keys to Manage Diabetes Without Dieting.

Free Resource if You’ve Been Yo-Yo Dieting

If you’ve been chronically dieting and are at your wits end, take this short journey towards Breaking the Spell of Diets in 3 Days Online Experience (or pop your name and email in below).

And, if have any questions along the way, be sure to reach out.

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!