Say No To Restrictive Weight Loss Diets!

Have you ever seen so many types of diets like there are nowadays?

Most of them are turning the simplicity of eating well-balanced, simple meals into some complex system.

What you don’t need is to spend more money on these so-called repackaged, new fad diets. Don’t fall for the marketing, take a good look, and research before making a decision.

Searching for the word “diet” brings a huge number of search results.

Huge amounts of data that tell you dieting is your answer for losing weight. Don’t eat this, don’t eat that. A lot of it is just confusing drivel.

What it comes down to is dieting has become a method for restricting your eating habits. You start restricting your diet and the body will react with a big fat “no way man!” It never works. But people never learn and try the next new shiny diet that comes along, promising you the world.

Most people have some kind of false idea of what a “healthy” body looks like, or how a “healthy” body should be shaped. This has completely changed in the last 50 years.

Men and women are and have always been obsessed with body image, shape, and size. Whatever the style of body image for both men and women was in the past, the chubby, rotund body image is no longer desirable.

So, what do we do?

We change our diets. We look for quick fixes that will correct our undesirable bodies without much effort. We search for that one secret that makes all of our troubles go away instantly.

We jump into fad diets.

We engage in a diet mentality.

We seriously get into diet restriction!

This diet mentality is a way of approaching nutritional choices through dysfunctional corrections like:

Is this “healthy?”

Does what I’m about to eat fit into my restrictive diet?

What will I have to sacrifice later?

What’s the cost on the treadmill I’ll have to pay for this piece of cake? 

When we are faced with food choices, plus the need to eat, the inner discussion usually includes:

• It’s after 6, so I can’t eat now.

• I can only eat carbs before working out.

• No more added sugars, they must go.

• I must count and control my calories every meal.

• Didn’t I just eat? Then how can I still be hungry?

• I wonder how many calories are in these bread rolls?

• It’s not the right time to have a snack now.

• I had such a big dinner last night, so I must fast all day today.

There are many different restrictive “diets” with thousands and thousands, of voices screeching at us every day why their particular version of a restrictive diet is the greatest one we must follow if we really want to lose weight. We really do want to lose weight, so we get on board.

But…

Is it possible this diet mentality is completely wrong?

These restrictive diets don’t work. You might lose some extra pounds initially, but in the end, they’ll return. Fad diets fail in the long term.

The reason these kinds of weight-loss diets fail is that:

• They make you feel considerably miserable

• They insist on strict tracking of everything you eat

• They limit macronutrients or calories or restrict certain types of foods. This leads to bingeing, and the guilt that follows

• Dieting makes you insanely obsess over food

• Our bodies feel dieting is starvation. They’re hardwired to fight against that. Why would you do that?

• It disconnects you from your ability and willingness to listen to what your body is telling you it needs

• You learn useless, arbitrary rules about food

• They make you binge out excessively or develop the terrible habit of overeating.

Let’s take a hard look at what a diet really is!

A “Diet” is the entire pattern of your eating habits. Our physical health is closely linked to our food choices. Those food choices and our physical health all add up. Your diet is the sum of your eating patterns.

A diet is not suitable if it’s restrictive or punishing in some way. Those annoying voices screaming in your face about how low carb is best, eat more protein, eat more beans, fat is bad for you, or giving up sugar will help you lose weight, just want to sell you their ideas.

It’s all about marketing. They offer you a secret, little-known, or scarce resource which are nothing more than marketing tricks aimed at your self-esteem to get your money.

I’m not against marketing, I’m against dishonesty.

It’s time to change your diet mentality

Instead of spending cash on false promises, how about changing the way you approach your overall diet, and physical well-being.

• Let go of all of those “don’t eat rules.” Once you do, certain foods begin to naturally lose their attraction.

• Get used to your body’s natural food cues, and feelings so you understand what your body is really desiring.

• Give your body what it needs, so it doesn’t fall into starvation mode and fight against you. How about a delicious meat and veggie wrap rather than a cream bun or donut. Yummy!

• Realize that eating a wide variety of foods, not restricting nutrients, creates better health.

“When we reject diets and diet culture, we learn that our bodies have amazing internal wisdom. They can tell us how much to eat, when to stop and what foods make us feel most energized.” ~Christine Byrne

I hope this podcast helps you to think differently about food and your diet. Eating should be enjoyable, not stressful. Take it easy with yourself, give yourself time to eat in a relaxed way, enjoy every bite of every meal. Try it and experience the difference in your life!

If you enjoyed this podcast, visit the site at weightlossmindset.co. Share this podcast on all your social media.