I know what it feels like to diet or think about dieting for years, even decades. I first became aware that I was “too big” in elementary school. I remember the doctor explaining that I was in the highest percentile for weight. I remember the women in my life constantly dieting, trying to shrink themselves. I first actively tried to lose weight at 14 and succeeded, until I gained it all back when I stopped exercising for hours a day. I would go on to yo-yo diet for the next 15 years, gaining and losing the same 80-100 pounds.
Two years ago I decided that it had to stop. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life obsessed with trying to shrink my body and maintain a “normal” BMI (which by the way I could never reach).
A wonderful instructor in graduate school introduced me to Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size® and so I began my journey. Rejecting dieting was hard and scary. I had relied on the sense of control that I had over my eating and weight to feel better about myself for years. Something that helped me to reject dieting was to explore why we diet and recognize the harm it has caused.
What has dieting ever given us anyway?
False promises of forever weight loss = being “normal”, fitting in, looking “better,” improving how we feel about ourselves, making us “healthier.”
Dieting really leads to: disappointment, feelings of failure, guilt, food rules, weight regain, negative body image, food obsession, not trusting your body, judging yourself, stress, low self esteem and more.
How to we reject the diet mentality?
- Recognize the damage that chronic and yo-yo dieting causes: metabolic adaptation to a lower calorie intake, increased binging and cravings, increased risk of heart disease, and loss of hungry and fullness cues.
- Be aware of diet mentality characteristics and thoughts. Thinking you need the willpower to follow certain food rules and meal plans and then feeling like a failure when you can’t is the diet mentality. In Intuitive Eating there is no place for willpower, food rules, or failure (you can’t fail at Intuitive Eating).
- Get rid of dieting tools. Scales, calorie tracking apps, food portion containers, meal plans, calorie/macro goals, and food restrictions.
- Have some self compassion. Let go of any self judgement. It’s understandable that you turned to dieting in our society.
Rejecting the diet mentality is hard. It takes so much time to unlearn all of the dieting messages we’ve been fed for years. It means coming to terms with not controlling your weight, possibly gaining weight, and not controlling what or how much you eat. It’s scary, it’s new, and it takes time to shift your mindset.
Check back next week for principle #2!