It’s scary. After months of rich comfort foods and serious couch time with a great season of TV… the sun comes out. Clothes are lighter, tighter and smaller.
For some people this is not a worry. They maintain healthy exercise habits and a balanced diet throughout the winter, even through all the turkey and mashed potato holiday dinners.
For some the thought of putting on a swim suit and hitting the beach, a lovely and fun way to spend an afternoon, carries an anticipated anxiety. Feeling stressed about how you look is often accompanied by the all-time favorite self-deprecating slogan: I’m so
fat.
Enter: crash diets. Very low calorie or liquid-only plans promise to help you lose 10 lbs in 10 days… sometimes more. Just throw as much money at a weight loss company as you can then watch the pounds disappear… effortlessly. It’s too good to be true, really, it
is. And it doesn’t work. In fact, you are more likely to end your diet with a couple extra pounds then when you started! Starve yourself (or under-eat) and you will eventually overeat. Physiology is to blame.
You may be wondering – Then what works? What do I do?
Eat when you are hungry. Stop when you are full. This is the only ‘diet’ you will ever need. And it’s so much more than a diet! It’s a thought process, a habit, a disposition and an ingrained way of thinking then behaving around food.
You may be asking – How do I know when I’m hungry? How do I know what full feels like? What’s the difference between stuffed, full and optimally satiated?
Can I trust my body to know exactly how much food and how many calories I need?
Yes! You can.
Building a relationship takes time and energy. Building one with food, particularly if right now you have a negative or stressful relationship with food and your body, means a bit of work.
The payoff is freedom from diets and body hate. The ability to eat the food you love when you know your body needs it. Feeling in control of your appetite and hunger. Passing up dessert because it’s not what you want most or need at a particular moment (sound impossible? It’s absolutely not).
It starts with accepting your body as it is right now, today. Then taking the next step, when you’re ready, to maximize your eating choices and make your diet (and by ‘diet’ I mean the way you eat everyday, all day for the rest of your life) work for you. Swimsuits are scary (nobody’s perfect!). Food doesn’t need to be.
I can help you discover what type of nutrition works best for you. What foods will help you achieve a healthy body weight and most importantly, make you feel good inside and out.
Come see me for a free 15 minute introduction. If we’re a good fit we’ll work together to help you achieve your food and nutrition goals.
Make peace with food. Say no to diets and restrictive eating.
Head to the beach, bare it all and feel great about it!
By Lindsay Diack, RD