We are continuing on our discussion of Intuitive Eating. If you missed the introduction, See the link at the bottom of the page to take you to the previous article in this series.
I am all for the intuitive eating style of doing things. I think it is the best way to honor the bodies and treat ourselves with respect. But it does take serious practice. I will start going through the 10 principles the Intuitive Eating that will help you become an intuitive eater yourself and how I have experienced them myself.
Intuitive Eating – Part 2 – Principle #1 – Reject the Diet Mentality
Stop worrying about weight. What I mean by that statement is I understand that most of us decided to get the Lap Band for the purpose of losing weight. But the only way to sustain any weight you will lose is by developing a different relationship with how you feed and honor your body. If you only focus on losing pounds you miss out on the real advantage to having a Lap Band.
So My challenge for you in this weeks lesson is stop trying to find the next best diet, fastest weight loss routine, most powerful pill, amazing trick to shed those pounds, etc.
What Is the “Diet Mentality”?
The diet mentality is often to do something drastic for a short period of time to reach a goal….and then slowly watch it backfire as you go back to your normal lifestyle. It is not a healthy way to lose weight in the long run, yet that is the prevalent message in our culture today.
The weight loss and supplement industry is a BILLION dollar industry. Because we just soak it in and believe all the lies. Has it ever crossed your mind that these people don’t want you to succeed by following their methods? After all, how many people after not having the success they hoped for from a “diet” or “weight loss plan”, will be looking at the next tool from that industry to do it all over again? “A lot right?”
How many of you have experienced weight loss from one of these methods in your past? I would bet that all of us at one time have. So does it not make sense that our decision to have the Lap Band was to find a more reliable and permanent way to over come obesity? Now that we have the Lap Band doesn’t it also make sense that we need to try a approach that we can live with for a life time?
In many ways to retrain you thinking is much harder and requires a more dedicated process then any quick fix process. The true success is not measured in pounds but in the ability to change your thinking, your decisions and your actions.
A member of my family (who shall be nameless to protect the peace) is a perfect example of someone dedicated to the diet mentality. As I mentioned before they are back on the diet (again) back to a shake in the morning, starving themselves most of the day and holding out for a oversized salad at the end of the day, and then sneaking at night (when they think no one is awake) and eating something they had denied themselves all day. But insists that this is what works best for them. My respond is “if this method was working, you would not need to keep losing the same weight over and over again. It is in fact the very definition of a failed diet plan.
I am not going to mention what they said to me next, but lets just say they did not receive the message I was trying to convey .
My point is you may come across these devotees of their “diet method” and are judged and criticized for “doing it wrong” yourself and maybe you are one yourself and are suborn about change. But I ask you to consider this quote by a very smart man. “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” (Albert Einstein)
As passionate healthy living bloggers, a lot of us will stand up and claim that a diet is not the way to go, but a lifestyle change. That is great! And I agree wholeheartedly that you have to incorporate healthy living and eating into what works for the long haul, not viewing things as a 12 week program to do and then forget about. However, how many of us started that path towards a healthy lifestyle still as a means to a dieting end? How many of us shout the praises of roasted Brussels sprouts, Greek yogurt, oats, berries, and avocados but deep within view those foods as the “right” thing to eat to get (or stay) at our perception of our own perfect weight, size, etc?
I personally enjoy these foods for how they make me feel and the health benefits they bring, but there still can be a bit of a dieter’s mentality attached to them. For example, could you turn around and enjoy eating a decadent dessert that doesn’t offer all the health benefits of broccoli and quinoa and still feel guilt free? Or not worry about it affecting your reflection in the mirror? Truthfully?
Like I said, I love these foods but I did not just stop eating cheeseburgers yesterday either, it took some time after adding these foods more often into my diet and the “cheeseburger type foods” more sparingly before they became my preferred choices.
My confession is I did all those crazy diets before having a Lap Band. But the one smart thing I did was to recognize that I had a diet mentality that was not working and after investing in having a Lap Band I needed to find a better way to go about my weight loss and develop permanent change. I was fortunate that I had the time to go back to school and take classes in Health, nutrition and fitness.
I enjoyed treats when I really wanted something, and engaged in exercise I enjoyed. Not because I needed to pay to eat, but because I loved the way I felt after. I was able to be consistent with it because it was just a part of my life and I didn’t stress over it. I kept eating in a way that worked for me with no particular “diet plan” or calculations and let my body do its thing. And I ended up in the best shape of my LIFE! That’s not to say that I did not have an action plan. On the contrary, I had to do some planning to make it easier for me to choose more healthier options most of the time so that choosing convenience foods were not my only option.
You see, I did not just want to lose weight, I wanted to know how to make my body healthy. When I focused on doing what was healthy for my body the pounds consistently came off over the course of a year and maintained for over ten years now. There have been periods of weight gain during that time. But I would reevaluate my choices, kick up my exercise and get back to that place of balance again.
That proved to me that a “diet” was not necessary. Simply living and being mindful of my body was enough. And it can be enough for you too. Your body will do amazing things if you just listen to it.
