How Strong is Your Diet Mentality?
/Did you know that the first principle of Intuitive Eating is “Reject the Diet Mentality”?
This step is critical because having a dieter’s mindset disconnects you from your body's wisdom, including your own internal cues that tell you what, when and how much to eat.
When you operate with a diet mentality, you eat according to external factors and rules (e.g., calories, points, macros, good/bad foods, fixed schedule, etc.) rather than honoring your body’s needs, desires and preferences.
Approaching food with a diet mentality can make eating a fraught, unsatisfying experience and lead to a disordered relationship with food.
Ultimately, having a diet mentality erodes your ability to trust yourself, your body and your instincts, and negatively impacts your physical and psychological wellbeing.
Diet vs. Non-Diet Mentality
Even if you aren’t on an official diet or have never dieted, you may still have a diet mentality due to our pervasive, insidious diet culture. It’s the voice in your head that sounds like this:
Diet Mentality
I want it, but I shouldn't have it.
I don't deserve to eat it.
I feel guilty about eating this food.
I’ll have to make up for eating this.
I shouldn't be hungry already.
I ate so good/clean today.
I can’t be trusted with certain foods.
No one can see me eat this.
Tomorrow, I'm getting back on track!
Non-Diet Mentality
In contrast, the non-diet mentality—that is, the Intuitive Eater voice—sounds like this:
Am I hungry?
I can have anything. What do I want?
What sounds yummy and nourishing?
Do I want this particular food?
Will I feel deprived if I don’t eat it?
Will this food satisfy and sustain me?
Is this tasty? Does it hit the spot?
I trust my body to tell me what it needs.
I honor my hunger and cravings.
I'm feeling full. I can have more later if I want.
I don't feel guilty, anxious or ashamed about my eating.
Where do you stand with the diet mentality?
This Feels Scary!
Rejecting the diet mentality can feel pretty scary, especially if you’ve been trapped in this mindset for a long time. You may fear that if you let it go, you’ll lose control, eat “badly,” never stop eating, and completely go to pot.
These fears are totally understandable.
In time, however, they will start to fade as you realize that it's the dieting mindset—the deprivation, restriction, micro-management, hyper-vigilance, moralism—that prevents you from having a peaceful, intuitive relationship with food and your body.
Your fears will further subside as you reconnect with your inner signals—your hunger, fullness, desires and satisfaction—and rediscover that your body is the only guide you need when it comes to nourishing yourself.
