8 Signs You Are Stuck in Diet Mentality
We live in a DIET CULTURE.
Our culture is obsessed with diets and the pursuit of thinness.
The diet industry is a $66 billion industry and with over 95% of every diet "failing" we as a culture continue to dump our money into diets and consider ourselves the problem.
What is the definition of a diet?
A diet is a prescribed way of eating that tells you WHAT to eat, WHEN to eat and HOW MUCH to eat.
There are so many popular diets and diet programs out there today a few of them include like Weight Watchers, Keto, Paleo, Whole 30, Nutrisystem, Atkins, 21-Day Fix, Trim Healthy Mama, Detoxes, Clean Eating Challenges, Juice Fasts etc.
Check out this post explaining the physical, mental and biological reasons Why Diets Hurt Us.
After so many years of dieting it is likely you have many preconceived ideas about "good" and "bad" foods as well as rules about what to eat and what not to eat. I think this happens to all of us if you have been on 1 diet or 20.
You may not be "on a particular diet" but the thoughts and behaviors of dieting remain. This is called PSEUDO-DIETING.*
You are trying to pursue health and weight loss in the "best" way possible using all the different tools and pieces of knowledge you have learned from different diets over the years but it is probably just making you feel confused and overwhelmed.
What is diet mentality and why is it important?
Diet mentality makes diets the answer to all issues with our body and relationship with food.
It keeps us stuck thinking like we are on a diet when in fact we aren't.
It is a critic providing rules regarding the food we consume eliminating our freedom and peace around and with food.
Real Life Example of Diet Mentality
I have this distinct memory from a few years ago when I was stuck in the throes of the dieting and I was trying to make a meal plan for the week. I couldn't figure out what to make so I went to the grocery store anyway and just wondered around because I had NO IDEA WHAT TO EAT.
My mind was swimming with questions like “What is considered healthy? How much of this food do I want in my diet? I'm trying to eat less sugar so I can't buy that. I heard from this one diet carbs are causing me to retain weight so why don't I try and eat fewer carbs this week......”
Letting go of the of the hope and promises diets offer is EXTREMELY difficult. Diets are preached like a religion in our culture and if you aren't on a diet or "watching what you eat" then we are perceived as "letting yourself go." More on this later...
The following provides a list of 8 signs you might be stuck in the diet mentality.
1. You don't allow yourself to eat certain foods.
When certain foods are off limit it can make it really difficult to feel normal and not crazy around food.
2. You have eliminated entire food groups from your diet for non-allergy related reasons.
Dairy and gluten are big ones recently that we have decided to eliminate in our culture. This causes a tremendous amount of issues at holidays and social occasions especially.
3. You count calories, macros or carbs.
If you are counting anything it is considered a diet. Intuitive eating teaches eaters to tune into their body's signals to tell them what to eat.
4. You are not on a particular diet you are just cutting back and/or eliminating carbs/sugar/dairy/gluten etc.
If anything is eliminated from your ability to consume anytime you want this is classified as restriction and it could lead to binging.
5. You are constantly looking for new eating plans on the internet or reading diet books.
Diets are thrilling. The give dieters this little high of, "This could be the one where I lose the weight."
Diets provide false hope, a false sense of control over our bodies and major disappointments.
6. You talk to your friends or family members regularly about your different dieting attempts.
Dieting is so common in our culture we talk regularly with friends and family about new diet attempts. We essentially bond over trying to make our bodies smaller, because for we feel like we are not adequate the way we are.
7. You don't eat during certain times of the day.
Maybe you have created rules for yourself regarding what time of the day you eat. Or follow the common diet rule to not eat after a certain time at night. Diets often teach these types of rules.
Intuitive eating rescues us from the diet rules of when to eat because we instead rely on our hunger and fullness ques to tell us when and how much to eat.
8. You feel like you HAVE to exercise so many days or hours per week especially if you ate something "you shouldn't have."
Extreme diets and extreme exercise plans often go hand in hand with each other. We often feel like we have to punish ourselves if we step out of line and ate that piece of cake or whatever it was.
One of the principles of intuitive eating talks about gentle movement, which means moving your body in ways that feel good and intuitive to you on a regular basis.
I have recently realized in my own life when exercise is approached with the purpose of losing weight it is not very fun. During my dieting years, I started countless exercise plans with the intent to lose weight and quite honestly didn't enjoy the exercise enough that I wanted to keep doing it.
With letting weight loss go my mindset about exercise has completely changed and I now exercise because I enjoy it and I want to feel strong in my body.
If you are tired of dieting or pseudo-dieting I want to encourage you to check out these posts on intuitive eating.
What keeps you stuck in diet mentality?
Take some time to think about how different diets have affected your overall relationship with food.
What would it be like for you to find freedom and happiness with food and your body for good?
In the Pursuit of Body Acceptance,
Chelsea
*Source:
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch
Encounter Counseling offers in-person counseling in Grand Junction and online counseling state-wide in Colorado including Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs.