Are You Giving Your Power Away to a Diet?

In my article “Are You Accidentally Gaining Weight” I wrote about weight loss diets and how I believe they fail women. If you and I were sitting across from each other having a conversation, you would be able to see how truly passionate I am about this topic.

I’m passionate because I believe it’s time for women to re-evaluate how we think about our bodies. I want us to accept ourselves as we are whether we’re short, tall, thin, fat, whatever.

The time has come for us to love, nourish, and nurture who we are in this moment.

But Deborah, you may say, it’s not that easy. I wholeheartedly agree, it’s not.

It’s been driven into our heads that we should look a certain way and if we don’t, then there’s something wrong with us. Diets have been a mainstay in our lives and culture for so long, they’re just something we do. And that’s what I’m talking about. We’ve normalized dieting.

• How many times this month alone have you said to yourself, “I should lose some weight”?
• How many times have you weighed yourself?
• How many times have you judged yourself for eating a food that you considered bad or forbidden?
• When you’re out to lunch, do you say “I have to be good, I’ll just have a salad”?
• Perhaps you say, “I’ve been good, I’ve earned this dessert” or “I’ve been so bad who cares, I may as well have dessert”?

Can you see how dieting can permeate your life? When we use the words good and bad when we talk about food, we're also defining who we are. Do you really want to give that kind of power to a diet?

What if, for just a moment, you were able to see food as nourishment. So for instance, instead of saying “I’m trying to be good, I’ll just have a salad” what if you said “I’m nourishing myself in this moment." Maybe that’s with the salad, maybe it’s with a piece of salmon and a seasonal vegetable, or just maybe it’s with that piece of chocolate cake made by an award-winning pastry chef.

Thoughts and words have power.

This month, I’d love to have you explore your relationship with dieting. If you’re not currently on a weight loss diet, do you unconsciously carry a diet mindset around with you?

I want you to be in a relationship with food and yourself that is truly loving. One place to start is by getting curious. Take some time and reflect on the questions I have posed - journaling with them would be great!

Diets don’t know how to be in relationship. They take, take, take – mostly your peace of mind and your sanity. When I was in my dieting heyday, I found my diets asked for a lot more than they gave.

Next month we’ll explore how our bodies can find their natural, healthy weight. For now, picture us having a nice lunch together talking about something that nourishes you.

What would that conversation be about?