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The View From Here – Ditch The Diet
I just discovered today is International No Diet Day. A day set aside to focus on building a healthy relationship with food and our bodies. Sign me up.
How does the word diet make YOU feel? I think rice cakes and celery sticks. Starvation. Restriction. Deprivation. And I think unhappiness.
Why do we do it? Why do we torture ourselves with diets? I’m not talking about the balanced diet. I’m talking about the fad diets. The ones that promise big results in a week, and as soon as you quit, you gain it all back and then some.
I admit, I was the skinny kid and ate whatever I wanted. Candy was a food group. When I started out on my own, and had my own job and my own money and my own house – I indulged a lot in all the stuff I wasn’t really allowed to have when I was younger. But then I got older. I had kids. Suddenly I wasn’t able to just eat whatever I wanted anymore without gaining weight. By the time my third child was born it was really hard to lose the 50 + pounds I gained thanks to my cravings of caramel dip and nacho chips and cheese whiz. Don’t knock it. It’s delicious.
And what do we do when we gain weight? We look for a quick fix. We want to change. Now. So we look for something to get us the results in a hurry so we can go back to old ways. At least that’s what I did for a long time. I did the “cereal” diet. I did apple cider vinegar. I tried shakes and pills. Not the cabbage soup one. Ick.
We live in a world that tells us we need to fix ourselves, lose weight. And then we’re surrounded by all the foods that hurt us. The fast food, the junk food. The cookies and chips, the sugary treats that are almost impossible to resist. Those foods we’ve learned make us happy and feel good. I’ve never craved carrot sticks on a Friday night, or a big salad after a heartbreak. I’ve never wanted to celebrate with kale chips. EVER.
Diet culture is hard on our self esteem. International No Diet Day is the opposite of all that. It started in 1992, by a woman named Mary, who had already battled anorexia, bullying and body image issues for years and was done with it. It was only intended to be celebrated in the UK where she was from, but it soon spread around the world. The purpose of today is body acceptance and body shape diversity (we are all beautiful no matter what we look like). It’s symbolized by a light blue ribbon, and is a much needed reminder to focus on health at any size, as well an an important way of exposing the dangers of dieting.
Just another reason I’m starting a fun Facebook group for Fox listeners to encourage us to work together on ourselves – developing that healthy relationship with our bodies, and even food. A positive and PRIVATE space online to connect and share the struggles of it all. Because taking care of ourselves should be fun and we should love what we do.
Fitness. Nutrition. Mental health. Emotional health. It’s all connected and all important. This FEEL GOOD group is going to bring all of that together. I’m hoping to have a few surprise guests, expert advice from people right in our community, and information to help YOU be your best self. No more diets.
As for the diets – I signed up with WW (formerly Weight Watchers) a few weeks ago with Sarah, and a few others and it’s really helping to focus on developing that positive relationship with food.
We need to find that balance of good food, and the occasional indulgence.
If you are interested in joining our group – let me know what things you could use some help with the most and I’ll start working on getting someone to help with it.
Ditch the diet. Love yourself. For who you are as you are.
Reach out anytime –
