Gentle Nutrition is Not Diet Culture
/Before we begin today's lesson, I'd like to share another Youtube video that I had the opportunity to record recently.
Clare Davis of Mental Health Chats in the UK has done some amazing work putting out podcasts and Youtube videos about important mental health topics like body image, eating disorders, sexual assault, and anxiety.
I recently had the pleasure of being the lead guest on her body image series which you can see on Youtube here. Enjoy!
Now then, onto today's topic.
When we first step onto the Intuitive Eating path, one of the first challenges is to recognize and reject the diet mentality.
This is important so we can learn how to hear and trust our own inner wisdom and stop listening to outside voices.
When magazines, tv shows, doctors, parents, friends, Instagram, and tiktok are all telling us what we should look like, or what we should eat, it is nearly impossible to know what our bodies think about that.
Unless we ask them, which we are not generally taught how to do.
Many of us have been turning to experts outside ourselves for months, years, and even decades. We have lost the ability to listen and the ability to support our own bodies' needs.
Enter Intuitive Eating.
As I said, first we reject the diet mentality.
Next, we also give ourselves full permission to eat, as part of making peace with food.
These two things together may seem totally awkward and backward and wrong when it comes to our health.
If I can eat anything will I ever stop eating?
This step is actually quite genius. What better way to know what's good for our health than to explore all foods with complete freedom?
The interesting thing that happens next is some people start saying - you know, I don't really feel good when I eat X, Y or Z. Or, you know, I'm not feeling very strong or my energy is low.
Or they realize - I feel great when I eat A, B, and C and I feel really satisfied and nourished.
This is important information! This is how you learn what tweaks to make here and there with your daily food self-care in order to feel better.
What I also hear people say is - "but am I restricting or falling prey to diet culture if I don't eat something that I kind of want?"
Not at all.
What I have come to learn is that a "no" from fear and self-loathing is very different from a "no" from a place of love and joy. The same is true of "yes's".
Whether I decide to eat or not eat something is not as important as the thoughts and the energy I am putting into my actions. Am I acting out of love or fear?
Saying no to something is not necessarily being restrictive. "No" can be a way of honoring your body.
I agree it can feel a little funky when we go through the gray area of transition from fearful no's to empowered no's.
One of the most important things to remember is we can't actually do any of this wrong.
You can also ask yourself some questions:
Do I feel like I have to eat a certain way, or else? (Or else I might be unhealthy or gain weight?)
Am I listening to my body or an external source?
Am I having compassion for myself for not always knowing exactly what to do?
Am I practicing self-love and nurturing thoughts no matter what I do with my food?
Am I approaching this with curiosity and openness?
Am I able to detect and reject the diet rhetoric even if I am trying something new?
Am I able to focus on how my body feels more than judging what it looks like?
These questions can help guide you back to peace and ease if you start to feel anxious about your choices.
No matter what, when in doubt, always bring yourself back to love.
"I love myself no matter what and even if I'm practicing and learning and not always feeling great about my choices, I have my own wellness and well-being at heart and I am getting better at listening to my own body every day."
This work is about experimentation, pleasure, and joy. You can't mess it up and you can't do it wrong.
Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash