You can make all the healthy changes in the world, but if you’re still referring to being ‘on’ a diet or saying a certain food is ‘bad’ it keeps you stuck in a dieting mentality, and can prevent you from creating a lifestyle.
Often my clients will say to me…’Oh, I did really well on my diet this week’… and I pick them up immediately.
If you can go ‘on’ a diet it means you can also go ‘off’ a diet, and that’s not what we’re creating here.
We’re creating a lifestyle… a way of eating for the rest of your life, because let’s face it, if we don’t, you’ll end up back where you started.
Breaking free from the dieting mentality takes practice because we’re so used to referring to our eating habits in this simplistic all-or-nothing way.
Have you heard yourself say…’ I’ve been really good this week’…and what did you really mean?
Subconsciously you meant you’ve STUCK to the ‘diet’, and this can then lead to another downfall of the dieting mentality.
The ‘well I’ve been GOOD all week so now I can reward myself’, and we all know that means you’re headed for a big blowout on ice cream, chocolate, or chips!
Can you see the unhelpful cycles we can get into just by the words we are using?
Even the word DIET is loaded and comes with all sorts of preconceived notions.
On one hand, diets conjure up the deprivation of only being able to eat lettuce leaves and carrot sticks, but on the other hand the alluring promise of quick and easy weight loss.
So what’s the answer?
Practice using phrases like:
This is the way I eat now
I love nourishing foods
I love this lifestyle of eating more whole foods
It’s such a relief to be eating foods that make me feel great
I’m choosing foods that are full of nutrients
You can also start to refer to foods as
Healthy or unhealthy
Sometimes foods and everyday foods
Those foods don’t make me feel good anymore
I feel amazing eating these foods
Initially, this may feel corny but it’s a powerful way to break free from the dieting mentality that has kept you stuck for probably decades.
Have you heard yourself use any of these dieting mentality words?
Our words matter and this is especially true when it comes to weight loss.
Releasing weight while you’re creating a healthy lifestyle is not just about the food you’re going to be eating, it’s also about the words you’re using.
If you’d like what you’ve read and you want to stay in touch jump onto my weekly newsletter list and you’ll get my free video training ‘The plant-based journey to weight loss that doesn’t require hours in the kitchen.’
Nic x
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