Main Takeaway:
Are you feeling bad in your body or do you feel like you’re BEING bad? There is a difference. Focus on how you actually feel! And, as always, on the hard days remember your WHY! ❤️
You’re having one of those days wondering all of the things: why you signed up for The SociEATy, how you will ever feel comfortable in your body again without dieting, if you made the right choice by quitting the diet, if you just focused more willpower towards the nest diet you could do it! Been there. This is so normal on our Intuitive Eating journeys. We are surrounded by diet culture telling us if we aren’t trying to change our bodies then we aren’t doing the work and becoming a better person. We are the odd man out when with friends and family and maybe we even feel a little lost without a new diet we are starting or exercise program we have to follow.
First, let’s talk about your why. Why did you quit diet culture and sign up for The SociEATy? What wasn’t working for you in diet culture? When you think about your ‘why’ what do you picture? Maybe it’s your kids grown up in sports fueling their bodies, confident in their now skin, and they learned that from watching you. Or maybe it’s sitting with your significant other at a fancy restaurant celebrating your wedding anniversary, enjoying the delicious food not thinking about calories or your weight.
Everyone will have a different why. It needs to be something that is important to you! My favorite way of explaining this is having your why so descriptive that you can close your eyes and picture it like a movie. You know how you feel, what you see, and what you do! When our why is something that we can see in an instant this will help us on these harder days when we are thinking about going back to diet culture. Having that strong why will ground us in our goals and dreams for the days to come! The power of visualization is REAL. 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Just like how athletes use visualization (them winning the gold medal) to help them achieve it (this is actually backed by studies!) you can use this same technique to find food freedom. What this does is it improves motivation, coordination and concentration
Okay, so you still think you need to lose weight and going back on a diet will help. When you think back to your dieting history, how did those diets work for you? Maybe you only lasted a couple of weeks on the diet, then it became too restrictive and you ended up binging. Then you felt like a failure because you didn’t complete the diet and you had to quit again. It wasn’t you that was a failure, it was the diet.
Don’t believe me? Here is a reminder of what the statistics show:
- We have LEVEL A evidence showing that dieting leads to future weight gain. (That’s the same level of evidence we have to show that smoking causes cancer!)
- Up to 2⁄3 of dieters gain back more weight than they ever lose
- 66% of dieters regain all their lost weight in 1 year
- Repeat dieting can be harmful to mental health (Can personally confirm!)
- 35% of dieters go on to develop disordered eating
And, intuitive eaters have been shown to have HEALTHIER diets, improved cardiovascular risk, greater weight stability, more daily fruit and veggie consumption, and better psychological health. You’re on the right path, gorgeous!
When you think about going back on a diet, think in the future. If you started that diet today reflect how you would feel in a few days, weeks, or months restricting again. Do this without rose colored glasses on. Be honest!!! When you reflect on this do you see yourself restricting and binging again. Or stress eating whenever you have a hard day. Or maybe you see yourself missing the family gathering because your food won’t be available. Is this the way you want to live your life? Only you can answer that.
It can also be helpful to think about what is making you feel you need to go back on a diet and that Intuitive Eating isn’t working. I always think of social media first. Diet culture is everywhere and seeing those promoting diets, weight loss, or exercise programs can make us think we need to do that too. If I just tried it one more time, maybe that will be the time it’s different for me. If you catch yourself feeling worse about yourself after being on social media, I challenge you to do a diet culture detox. Is there something that has triggered this temptation to quit intuitive eating? What are you following or seeing that you can unfollow, block, or hide? Also, make sure to follow others, to curate your feed to things that will help you on your journey!
And, remember IE should feel GOOD! If it’s not feeling good that doesn’t mean it’s wrong for you. That’s just feedback! Ask yourself what you can do to feel better- what behaviors can you adjust? Types of foods you’re eating? How are you moving your body? What can help you feel better? This is actually very valuable feedback! Don’t run from it. Lean into it. Listen to your body if it’s telling you something doesn’t feel good- that’s intuitive!
Here Are Some Action Steps To Take Today:
- Sit down and come up with a movie scene of your why, one that you can close your eyes and picture. Get super specific! Where are you? Who are you with? What can you smell?! Yes… that specific! Check out this Accountability Call about Finding Your Why for more guidance.
- Complete this dieting history worksheet from the stage 1 video 1 workbook. Reflect on any trends you see!
- Unfollow or mute 10 accounts on social media that are making you compare yourself to others. Then follow 10 new accounts that make you feel good and help you work towards your ‘why’!
- Reflect how your body is feeling. Identify 1 thing you can do to allow yourself to feel better (Remember, these are behaviors and weight loss isn’t a behavior! Some examples: work on incorporating joyful movement, dig into gentle nutrition, getting more sleep, working to honor hunger/fullness, etc)
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