Yesterday was “International No Diet Day,” which may sound
like a made up thing, but I found it on the internet so it must be true. [That’s
a little playful sarcasm I hope you come to recognize as these blogs continue.
;)] Personally, I consider every day to be No Diet Day and it is such a freeing
way to live! Now, I know this sounds strange coming from a dietitian since we
straight up have the word “DIET” in our profession’s name, but let me explain.
There are roughly one million diets out there (ok maybe not quite that many but it’s close), and
figuring out which one to follow can be very confusing. That’s where I come in
with the spoiler: you don’t need to follow any of them.
Let me start by saying, if you have a serious medical
condition or life-threatening food allergy, following your doctor’s prescribed
diet is in your best interest. However, if you don’t fall into that category, you
truly do not need to be following any particular diet. This includes “lifestyle
changes,” “clean eating” or anything else that says it isn’t a diet but
secretly is. If it looks like a diet and sounds like a diet, it’s a diet
regardless of what it’s being called. I’m talking about anything that requires
you to count your macros, calories, points, etc, requires you to eat certain
portion sizes or eat from a specific food list, eat within a certain time frame
or has any rules whatsoever.
If you’re currently on a diet, it’s not your fault that
you’re on it. You’re probably just trying to be healthy, lose weight or better
yourself in some way, and I understand the allure. Diets run rampant in our
society and they make big promises; I’ve been on my fair share over the past
decade too. But now that I’ve seen the (metaphorical) light, I’ve learned how
to change my ways and my relationship to food has never been better. I no
longer feel the need to adhere to food rules of any kind, and I don’t feel any
guilt for the food I eat, because food doesn’t define morality, making us
“good” or “bad.”
This food freedom I’m talking about stems from learning
about Intuitive Eating (IE). I’ve mentioned IE briefly before, but today am
going to delve in a little deeper. Firstly, IE is NOT a diet, and if you’ve
ever seen it promoted as a means to weight loss, that is not true IE. It was
created as a guide to help people learn how to discover the satisfaction of eating
again, in a rule-free manner. If you’ve ever been on a diet and then quit it,
you may understand what I’m talking about. You go from having rules and structure
to not really knowing what to eat, and that’s very common! But you know who the
true expert of your food needs is? Your body! It’s very smart and dare I say, intuitive, to what you need on any given
day. We just stopped listening to our bodies somewhere along the way.
There are 10 steps to intuitive eating:
1. Reject the diet mentality
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the food police
5. Respect your fullness
6. Discover the satisfaction factor
7. Honor your feelings without using food
8. Respect your body
9. Exercise – feel the difference
10. Honor your health with gentle nutrition
These principles are outlined in great detail in the book
“Intuitive Eating,” by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. If you struggle with
your relationship with food and would like help working through these steps, please
reach out to me! I would be happy to help you discover the freedom that comes
through Intuitive Eating, so that No Diet Day can become your everyday too.
Until next time,
Dietitian Melissa
These views are
reflective of Melissa personally and not of Hy-Vee, Inc. This advice is not
meant to take the place of your primary care provider.
