What comes to your mind when you think of the word ‘’diet’’?
Is it a set of rigid food rules to lose weight?
A prescribed and restrictive eating pattern?
An eating plan that makes your social settings intimidating and stressful?
Or perhaps a way of eating focusing mainly on counting calories and macromanaging
nutrients?
Now,let me ask you something else…
Why would you allow society dictate and decide what and how much you should eat?
Why would you be influenced by a diet culture that associates being thin to beauty, worthiness,confidence,happiness and success?A mentality that steals your joy from life saying you should delay your dreams until you lose weight…and brainwashes you into believing that you are just a diet away from being ideal.
A diet mentality is one that decides your food choices without taking into account hunger, fullness, cravings, environment and mostly your food preferences.
It blocks your ability to tune into what your body needs and what it’s really telling you. But i am not blaming you…because I have been there too. I have counted calories, macros and even went on”an apple diet”.I was so obsessed with dieting that I totally lost touch with my senses and my identity. Chronic dieting would slowly take over my life.The foods I was restricting, the so called ‘’forbidden foods’’ would constantly occupy my mind.I felt trapped and didn’t like the ways that were getting in my own way.
Remember one thing…RESTRICTION ALWAYS LEADS TO ATTRACTION! That is the moment I understood that food freedom was the only way out,my ultimate
loophole . When i healed my relationship with food and ditched the diet mentality,a great deal of space opened up, finally allowing me to focus on more important things in life…the things that matter the most.
The diet culture places value and focus on weight, shape and body size over health and well-being. It tells us that our physical appearance is more important than what we are on the inside and that in order to belong, we must follow certain rules and expectations. But wouldn’t you agree that a healthy outside starts from the inside?
YES! One should never underestimate the power of nutrient dense foods and I encourage everybody to consume them most of the time. But what about our mind? Is it filled with positive thoughts? Are our relationships filled with love? Are we working in a happy environment? Are we practicing self-care?
Health is not just based on whether you had broccolis today; your mental and physical are equally important and this is why what i also consider unhealthy is when your food choices cause you anxiety and guilt whenever you eat something indulgent.
Anti diet doesn’t mean anti health.Anti diet doesn’t mean excluding nutritious foods and eating all the junk you want.It is about giving yourself permission to eat the foods you crave, in a mindful way.It encourages you to focus on your body’s needs and choosing foods that are both nourishing and satisfying; the ones that make you feel your best. That is why you will not end up eating burger, fries and donuts all day.While those foods might feel good initially, they rarely make us feel good in the long term. That’s the irony about anti dieting.Once you realize you can eat whatever you want, you
probably won’t.
It’s more a holistic approach to eating knowing that YES health includes eating whole foods but also the occasional pizza.
Although diets may produce weight loss in the short term it doesn’t necessarily lead to sustainable weight loss or improved health in the long term.In fact,most people end up gaining back the weight they lose(if not more) after dieting.This generally leads to yo-yo dieting which in fact is very harmful to our physical and mental health.
When you are not constantly trying to demonize foods,you won’t feel an out-of-control desire to overeat them. And as you begin to make peace with food and learn to listen to the wisdom of your body you will start experiencing freedom from the tension and guilt that comes from NOT following your intention.
WITH LOVE…
