Does diet culture still have its grip on you?
Believe me I get it.
It’s been 5 years since I’ve ditched dieting and adopted mindful and intuitive eating instead.
But, the insidious and unending messages we learned as kids about weight, beauty and the “right or wrong” way to eat which was later reinforced our entire lives, is pretty hard to unlearn.
And, like with so many of you it still rears its ugly head my way from time to time.
Because I’ve learned how to be conscious and aware when my brain tries to hijack me with unhelpful or negative thoughts, I also know what to do about it now and what is at the root of it. (pssst. this is part of how I support people to heal their relationship with food).
If you’re learning mindful eating, trying to make more body-led food decisions, and want to be more intuitive about your eating choices - stay on your path!
The old games, like finding quick-fix diets and/or bargaining techniques can be very enticing, especially if you feel like you’re struggling and want to get your “eating back in control.”
Consider this however: Who or what has ever been “controlled” or “restrained” and not tried to rebel in some way?
These thoughts are just your primitive brain’s way of bringing you back to familiarity, centering you and giving you a sense of safety. It doesn’t even matter if the mechanisms (dieting, food restriction, portion control, over-exercising etc) don’t actually provide you with the long-term sense of confidence and peace that you really crave and long for.
You go back to it to get at least a temporary sense of relief and control. You feel like you’re taking action, when you’re actually perpetuating an old maddening loop which up to this point you’ve found no reprieve from.
Being consciously aware of these thoughts and patterns and then challenging them in the moment is your key to escape and pave a newer, more balanced and shame-free, blame-free approach to eating and learning to nourish your body.
Check out the list below…and let me know. Do you relate to any of these?
Ways you know you are still being influenced by diet culture:
You sometimes (always?) still do a running tally of calorie counting in your head every day - just to keep yourself in check.
When snacking, you immediately look at the back of a package and determine that IF you in fact ate the whole bag, could you exercise the calories off later or be ok with it?
You bargain with yourself: “If you exercise now, I’ll reward you later with cake.” Or. “I’ll eat this now and then tomorrow I’ll have a fast day.”
You gaslight yourself. This can look like making yourself wrong and believing stories about yourself like “I can’t be around sugar” or “if I have one, I’ll eat the whole bag.” or “All I need to do is look at cake and I gain weight” Let me ask you. How does it serve you to keep those thoughts and beliefs? Who actually benefits from you continuing to believe this about yourself?
Your ears perk up still when you hear something is skinnylicious, fat free or low-/no carb or gluten free knowing nothing else about the product.
You’re still using exercise as your buffer to eat more rather than it being a meaningful necessary part of your self-care routine.
You console a friend who is struggling with body image by saying ‘you’re not fat, you’re beautiful!”
You still use/withhold food for reward/punishment for completely separate behaviors. “If you finish your project and stop procrastinating you can have ice cream later.”
You hear a voice in your head berating yourself or your body no matter what you do or how hard you try.
You try to rationalize a food choice and/or moralize food (which leads to guilt/rebellion) rather than staying present, neutral and curious
Ever hear of the term, the only way out is through?
If you’re through with the unhelpful self-talk
If you’re through with the constant yo-yo dieting and weight cycling
If you’re through with the endless binge-remorse-restrict cycles.
And if you’re ready to work through your issues with food (emotionally, psychologically, nutritionally, behaviorally) then…..working with a coach might be exactly what you need to see your way through.
I have almost a full practice right now - but I moved a few things around and am excited to announce that I’m opening up 2 more weekly slots for 1:1 coaching.
Let’s have a quick zoom call and find out if we vibe with one another. :-)