3 Reasons to Give Up Diet Culture Diets

I know we have all gone through those diets where we get so motivated and think “this will be the diet that sticks” ... and then it doesn’t. Here’s why it may be time to give up those diets.

1. They Hurt Your Self-Confidence

Diets have always tied the way you look with your self-worth. That’s just not right. Diet culture can get us concerned with what people think about us and push us to chase “dream” bodies. You are all beautiful humans that are measured by so much more than a thigh gap or a round booty. Even today, thicker thighs and shapes are “IN” and everyone can celebrate their natural contours and curves.

Since the idea of what people “should” look like is ever-changing, it is not healthy that we end up chasing these trends. Rather than having this unhealthy view of ourselves that can come from society and diets, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were taught to love our bodies and feel good about who we are? By creating your healthiest body, you will feel confident AF!

2. They Hurt Your Relationship with Food

Eat this, Eat that, don’t eat this, don’t eat that … These harsh restrictions are just some of the reasons why diets can make you have a negative relationship with food. 

At first, you are excited to make a change, so you start a fad diet. The diet says “restrict, restrict, restrict” all types of foods, and you feel so proud to overcome your willpower. Then, a few days or maybe weeks later, you are craving something on the “don’t eat list”. You decide to treat yourself, just this one time, and then end up feeling like you failed. So then you start to restrict more to make up for the one food item you “weren’t supposed to eat” and the cycle begins again. All this diet culture and way of thinking has made you feel like you CAN’T eat certain foods, as if they will ruin your progress or are bad for you.⁣ 

I’m happy to tell you that it is sooo not true.⁣ My clients and I eat any foods we love and progress is MADE, not lost! 

3. They Give You Unrealistic Expectations

We have all heard of the newest diets where people will drop 5-10 pounds in the first week - amazing right? No, not really because there is some information missing. What people do not hear about is that most of that weight is really a loss of water and very little fat. Not exactly ideal, so what is the better solution?

Instead of dropping 5-10 pounds of water in a week, you can aim to lose 1-2 pounds of fat in a week. When you take a holistic approach, you can start to lose fat in a sustainable way. So even if you don’t feel like 1-2 pounds each week is a lot, it really is! You are making great progress and will be able to sustain it in the long run!

Now You Know!

There are a few points to take away from this, but the most important one is that you are BEAUTIFUL!  Don’t feel pressure to hop on new fad diets that make you feel self-conscious about yourself. Instead, work towards a holistic approach that is sustainable and still lets you eat all the foods that you love!

Want to take your learning a step further and find out more about macro counting and diet culture? Click here to learn all about it!