Diet culture is tricky and pervasive. It gives us false hope that the perfect way of eating is around the corner, that we’ll lose our desired amount of weight, and we’ll keep it off for the rest of our lives. To top it off, if we don’t “succeed” with the diet, we’re the ones to blame. We just don’t have enough willpower. And the cycle continues. We start a new thing, we fall off of that thing and we blame ourselves.
The science is clear that diets don’t work. And even if they work in the short term, we inevitably gain back the weight we worked so hard to lose. Once we gain the weight back, we feel ashamed of ourselves. How could I have done this again? Time to start a new diet or go back on the same one.
This dieting cycle (and weight cycling itself) is damaging our health, both physiologically and psychologically. So why do we do it? Lots of reasons that I won’t go into now. For now, I want to focus on the ways that you can stand strong against the diet mentality. Check out these 4 tools that will inspire you to stay off the diet train:
- Journal the following: Explore your history and why diets haven’t worked for you in the past. Which diet(s) did you try? How long did they last? Did you lose weight? Did you regain the weight? Look at all the ways dieting has interfered with your quality of life. Has it stolen your money, your time, your energy? In what ways?
- Practice compassion. Instead of dieting, begin making changes in your eating behavior that are kind to your mind and body. How would you speak to a friend about their body and food issues? Now turn that around and treat yourself with the same kindness.
- Stop reading and subscribing to diet culture messaging. Unfollow people that push diets. Get rid of the diet books and cookbooks. Stop Googling quick fixes and weight loss strategies.
- Deconstruct all of the dieting rules that you’ve held onto. Do you avoid certain foods? Do you exercise to make up for a meal? Do you participate in cheat days or eat differently on the weekdays vs the weekends? Start looking at the ways that diet culture has invaded your life. Now start to undo that way of thinking and those behaviors.
If the way you have been doing things hasn’t been working, perhaps it’s time to try another way. One filled with compassion and curiosity and ultimately will give you peace around food and in your body.
You 100% deserve that.