3 Steps for Leaving Dieting Behind

Picture this:

• Your friends invited you out for pizza, but you declined because you’re not eating carbs right now.

• You just started what feels like your 100th diet and you’re already thinking about when you can stop and enjoy your favorite foods again.

• Last time you went on a diet, you “made it through” but only because you allowed yourself a “cheat day” each week to binge on all of the off-limits foods.

• You saw your parents dieting constantly while growing up, so you assumed that’s what all adults do.

• You bond with your friends making light of which food group everyone is eliminating this month.

• You vowed to never eat ice cream again and now suddenly you seem to be noticing an ice cream shop on every corner of your drive home.

Any of these sound familiar?

Diets promise to be the answer to all of your problems. Lose weight, feel great. Get results that last. Don’t be miserable anymore.

But for a lot of folks, dieting just leads to an endless cycle of disordered eating behaviors that make the entire eating experience more complicated and less enjoyable. The requirements of various diets (whether it’s cutting out food groups, drastically decreasing your intake, avoiding “processed” foods) are often unsustainable and unrealistic. People may experience some “results” for a time until they inevitably go off the diet and find themselves back at square one. Then it’s on to the next diet.

The truth is, we all experience pressure (internal, external, and as a society at large) to conform to whatever standards are believed to be “ideal.” But we don’t have to accept that as our narrative! It is possible to disengage from the dieting cycle and experience a more positive relationship with food and your body.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to begin to challenge the patterns that can keep you stuck in the dieting cycle.

1. Get curious and challenge your thoughts. There are a lot of notions that we passively accept that only serve to further deteriorate our self-image.
   Reflection questions: What have you been believing about yourself? (Ex. “If I’m not a size X, I am unattractive.”) Where did those beliefs come from? (Ex. “My mom said this about me growing up.”) What might you say to challenge those beliefs?

2. Identify your values. A lot of times, we find that dieting doesn’t truly align with people’s values if they examine things a little closer.
   Reflection questions: What are some of the things you value most in life? What are you passionate about? If you’re not sure, doing a values card sort could be a great place to start!

3. Consider alternatives. Your world opens when you stop the war between yourself and your body.
   Reflection questions: What would you gain if you decided to stop dieting? (We’re not talking about weight here! Maybe it’s joy, connection, or less stress.) How can you start speaking about yourself in a kinder way?

It can be hard to disengage from something that has been significant in your life, but it is possible. This is just a start!

Connect with GR Nutrition to get started on your journey!