Chronic Dieters
DITCH THE DIETS FOR GOOD
BREAKINGING THE ENDLESS DIETING CYCLE
Picture this. It's Wednesday and despite it only being the middle of the workweek, you are tired from being so busy doing everything that needs to be done. On top of it, you jumped on the scale this morning and noticed that the number is continuing to creep up, which put you in a particularly sour mood. Amid the chaos, you have not been able to keep up with the diet you have been trying to follow. However, if you think back, the motivation that you had 2 months ago when you decided to start this new diet has been fading over the last several weeks. You feel guilty, depressed and maybe even disgusted at yourself for yet again falling off the diet bandwagon. You decide at that moment to put your foot down. Starting Monday (because for whatever reason Mondays are always better than any other day to start something new) you are going to overhaul your diet and this time it is going to stick. This time you will be more disciplined. This time the weight is going to stay off. However, it's only Wednesdays, so from now until Monday you throw all the diet rules out the window and eat all the food that starting Monday you will no longer be able to have. Monday rolls around and you are feeling jazzed and ready to go. However, just a couple weeks later you find yourself back at square one, feeling guilty and shameful.
This is the endless cycle of dieting that so many of us get stuck in, and of course, we end up blaming ourselves for not being disciplined enough, motivated enough or for not having enough will power. Ironically, dieting is one of the only times we do this. Imagine taking your car to a mechanic because it is making a funny noise, but upon picking it from being "fixed" you find it is still making the same noise. You would likely assume the mechanic did not do something right. You wouldn't blame yourselves for somehow driving the car incorrectly. In general, when someone says they can deliver results, we put the responsibility on them to do so. However, the diet industry continues to lure us in with the promise that they can help us lose weight and be healthier, yet time and time again fail to do just that. The problem is the diet, not you!
INTUITIVE EATING: THE SOLUTION
The good news is that you can break the cycle and there is a better way. Through intuitive eating, not only can you heal your relationship with food and your body, but you can also transform your overall health. Here are some benefits to ditching the diets and practicing intuitive eating:
Enjoy Eatin Again
Get back to eating and enjoying all types of food! With intuitive eating, you get to eat what you want, when you what and as much of it as you want. This might sound really scary to you right now, but once you read the rest of the benefits you might start to feel a little more at ease.
Trust Yourself and Your Body
Wouldn't it be great if you could eat what you want, when you want and as much of it as you want without having the fear of bingeing or overeating? With intuitive eating you can do just that! Through the process, you will learn to listen to and trust your body's hunger and fullness cues.
Excellent Health
Diet culture wants us to value thinness about all else, and that thinness equals health. However, this is not true and in fact, dieting and weight cycling can be detrimental to our health. Through practicing intuitive eating you can enjoy excellent health.
Increased Confidence and Self-Acceptance
If body image and self-confidence is something you struggle with, this likely trickles down into all areas of your life. It can affect your relationships, parenting, work performance and more. Through practicing intuitive eating, you will begin to see your body in a whole new light.
A Legacy to Pass Down
As parents, a common goal we all have is to provide our children with the best life possible. Through practicing intuitive eating, you will develop a healthy relationship with food and your body, something you can then pass down to your children. Wouldn't it be great to know that they aren't going to go through the same struggles with dieting and confidence that you did? What a gift to give!