Dieting Isn't About Food

I'll admit it- dieting can be fun! The high and anticipation of starting a new diet, the comrade you feel when you diet with friends or family, the compliments you receive when you lose weight – it’s addicting & it may keep you coming back for more. Although I’m anti-diet, I can’t deny the appeal of it. I have also found myself swept up in the promises made to me by diets.

We’re told that dieting and losing weight will not only shed pounds, but will also shed anything uncomfortable and messy from our lives. The before and after pictures show us a new life that awaits- one in which all problems are gone, and life is lived happily ever after.

Have you ever found yourself meeting your “goal weight”? What do you discover? In my experience, I met my goal only to find that I’d been sold a lot of false promises. I may have been in a smaller body, but all of my problems were still there, and what’s more- I found that I had even more body image insecurities than I did before starting my diet. I found that in order to maintain the unrealistic goal I had set for myself, I now had to spend even more time and energy obsessing about food and exercise.

The thing is: dieting isn't about food. Read that again: DIETING ISN'T ABOUT FOOD. 

Dieting is about fear and control. There’s an underlying message with all of those before & after pictures. They’re telling us that in order to be truly happy we must live in fear of inhabiting a larger body, and to do so, we must control our body. The body is therefore the enemy- it’s not to be trusted.

What a backwards concept! In order to live the life of your dreams- happy, full of joy, healthy- you need to live in fear and distrust of your body, your home? And yet we continue to reach for diets as external sources of happiness. Do you ever wonder why you continue this destructive cycle when you know it doesn’t make sense? Perhaps it’s because you’ve never been shown how to release that need for control around your body. Maybe you don’t even know what it would look like to not be consumed by body image insecurities & food.

​These concepts can be terrifying. But you can do terrifying things, girlfriend. And you are so worthy of living a life free from obsession around your body & food. I invite you to send me a message to start your journey today!