5 Tips for Ditching Dieting
Unfollow all diet, fitspo, and toxic social media accounts. Do you see before and after pictures? Do you see notes of restriction? Even if you love the person and are loyal to them, you’re allowed to unfollow things that harm your recovery. If it makes you feel funky and gets you stuck in the comparison trap, unfollow! Throw out diet books and articles. Surround yourself with like-minded people who will support you in healing your relationship with food.
Write a breakup letter with dieting. Write your dieting history and examine the results in your life. Acknowledge and admit the good and bad parts of your “relationship” with dieting. Acknowledge the impact, loss, time, and money spent on dieting. Use your voice, speak your truth, and get your own back. If you’re not ready to let go of weight loss, can you put it on the back burner? You can desire to diet and not act upon it.
Self-care. It boils down to meeting your own needs. Take some time to get to know your needs, values, and beliefs outside of diet culture. Journal your top 5 values, things that are the most important to you (inner-peace, family, fun etc). Journal ways you can nurture your top values outside of diet culture’s values of weight and size! Next, journal your needs. Consider physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual needs in your list. How can you meet some of your needs this week?
Journal. We want to get beyond the surface and negative talk and tap into what’s deeper. If you notice a pattern of body-focused talk, write about it and see what is underneath. Dieting is a distraction from your purpose and you will have to feel and deal with whatever’s underneath if you want to heal. Write about what you will have to face if you give up dieting. Start writing about life beyond body focus! If you don’t like to write, can you talk about this with someone? Can you create a video?
Create a vision board. Collage your purpose, calling, traits, passions, dreams, values, goals, hopes, ambitions, and possibilities as you stop living for diets and start living your calling and purpose.
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Commissioned background artwork: @jaimerovenstine
