Intuitive Eating Principle 1: Reject the Diet Mentality
Have you ever felt like you have been on some kind of weight loss diet for all of your life?
Before I started focusing on my relationship with food, I felt like food was always the missing link between my health and my happiness. I was always trying to lose weight and always looking for the next plan or challenge that was going to kick-start my life in a new healthy direction.
Then I discovered the book “Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach” by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. The cover of the book read, “Make Peace With Food, Free Yourself From Chronic Dieting Forever, and Rediscover the Pleasures of Eating.”
I felt like someone took an elephant off of my chest….
This was what I had needed all along. Peace.
Peace with my body.
Peace with my choices.
Peace with myself.
Principle 1 of Intuitive Eating is all about letting go of diet culture and learning how to listen to your body.
I couldn’t remember the last time I listened to my body, rather than make my body “push through.” This was going to take some courageous unlearning and I knew I was going to need a reframe in my thinking.
Part one of letting go of the diet mentality means you need to let go of weight loss as your primary goal when it comes to food.
This is going to be hard at first. Please trust me when I tell you that the peace and wellness you will discover in your soul is WORTH IT!
In order to help your brain begin the rethinking cycle, it is suggested that you become aware of what you are taking in around you.
Let’s start with social media. How many people do you follow or how many groups are you in that focus on weight loss or diet culture?
It’s time to take those distractions out of your life. Unfollow. Leave the group.
Look at email. Are you getting emails about quick fixes and challenges?
Do you feel guilt or shame every time you see an email come from a certain company?
Time to unsubscribe.
Look at your cookbooks, magazines, and books. Do any of these make you feel unworthy or encourage you to restrict something from your life?
Time to donate.
Are you measuring out food, stepping on a scale, using an app to dictate a “good” day or “bad” day of eating?
Time to put these things out of site or get rid of completely.
You are going to learn to be the own master of what feels good and create your own days filled with peace and satisfaction.
If you are curious on if dieting has interfered with your life, I would encourage you to download this simple checklist which will help you to process how dieting has impacted your physical health, social connections, psychological well being, and behavior.
If you are wanting help to break free from the dieting cycle, let’s connect.
