Intuitive Eating Principle #1: Rejecting the Diet Mentality

Table of Contents

In this blog post, I am going to cover everything there is to know about the first principle of intuitive eating: rejecting the diet mentality.

Intuitive eating has 10 principles in total. It’s worth mentioning that intuitive eating is a journey.

Just because you conquer one principle doesn’t mean you move on to the second principle.

Oftentimes, you will have to revisit principles, and that’s okay!

There will be a lot of fluidity in your journey. All of which should be embraced.

What is a diet?

Even though I loved my grandma, she was one of the reasons I’ve struggled with my body image for a long time.

There are a few definitions for the word “diet” according to Merriam Webster. As a noun, the word means “food and drink regularly provided or consumed”.

As a verb, the word means “to cause to eat and drink sparingly or according to prescribed rules”.

Here, we are referring to the second definition of diet.

Diets can be synonymous with restriction, or a rigid set of food rules that need to be followed.

What is the diet mentality?

The diet mentality is the inner monologue you have with yourself when you’re on a diet.

It’s the little voice that tells you what and how much to eat, what is healthy and not healthy, and what foods to eat and avoid.

This mentality controls your eating in all aspects, and gives you a false belief that weight loss is the key to health, happiness, security, success and confidence.

Often times, this mentality presents itself in “When I, then I” statements:

“When I lose five pounds, then I’ll be happy”

“When I look like this, then I’ll be successful”

It is important to note that you do not need to be on a diet to still have a dieting mentality. It may present itself in sneaky ways, such as phrases like:

“I just had breakfast. There is no way I can be hungry!”

“I only eat from 8AM-8PM and nothing after that”

“Carbs aren’t good for you unless you’re going on a run”

“My dinner tonight is going to be heavy so I’m going to have a light lunch”

How does the diet mentality show up in our lives?

Having a strong diet mentality heavily influences our behaviors regarding food.

For example, if you follow intermittent fasting, or have a window of eating, you may dismiss your hunger and fullness cues completely.

You may ignore your hunger before bed simply because it wasn’t within the time frame you set for yourself. You may distract yourself by going to bed early, drinking water, or focusing on something else.

And it may just work. Until the next morning, when your hunger comes back with a vengeance, and stays for a few days or weeks.

Or, you find yourself at the grocery store buying items you don’t actually want to cook with for meals you don’t actually want to eat.

You’ve been on a plan for a few weeks now and lost some weight. You don’t want to just give it all up.

Until you inevitably do because the plan is too restrictive. Now you find yourself deep into your second tub of ice cream feeling horrible about yourself.

The diet industry

The diet industry is a multi billion dollar industry that specifies in selling you a product they know won’t work.

In other words, you are nothing more to them than a repeat customer.

When you stray off a diet, it isn’t because you weren’t disciplined enough. You are not the problem. The diet is.

Our culture continuously puts out the message that you need to lose weight.

When you lose weight, then we’ll respect you.

When you lose weight, then we’ll take you seriously.

Your body does not need to change. It is our culture that needs shifting.

Why don’t diets work?

Study after study shows that diets do not lead to long term weight loss.

If you’ve ever been on a diet, you may be aware of the diet cycle. You pick a diet to follow, do really well for a little while and lose weight.

Then it becomes too restrictive and you start to feel the pressure to give in to your cravings.

You give in for one meal, promise to hop right back on your diet, and then don’t. Soon, all the weight you lost comes back. Maybe even some additional pounds.

And then you pick another diet and the cycle begins again.

Physiologically, your body needs a set amount of calories to function and run all of its processes correctly.

If you don’t feed yourself properly, you are forcing your body into starvation mode.

For example, if a person needs a minimum of 2,000 calories just to exist, but wants to go on a 1,300 calorie diet, they’re going to feel really really bad.

Now, your body is smart and might be able to adapt to the restriction. But that doesn’t mean you should be doing it.

The damage becomes very evident the minute you step off your diet. If you’ve ever wondered why you “blow up” after a binge, it’s because your body is starving and doesn’t know when they’re going to get an adequate amount of calories next.

I’ve linked a few studies going into the science of why diets don’t work in the “sources” section at the bottom of this post.

Restriction of foods

I used to dread company potlucks, but since I’ve discovered food freedom I now look forward to them!

Restricting specific types of food can also work against you.

Have you ever gone on a diet where you restricted a group of foods (ex. carbs) and all of a sudden couldn’t stop dreaming about pizza?

There is a reason for that. Once we restrict something in our minds, it becomes all the more appealing. This is called the forbidden fruit effect.

How does the diet mentality affect us?

When you’re on a plan, do you find yourself feeling more confident in your skin?

What about when you get off the plan? Do the feelings of guilt and shame start kicking in? Does your self confidence and self worth dwindle with each failed diet?

The diet cycle is costly in many aspects, and affects the things that matter to you most. It can cost you time, energy, relationships and your own inner peace.

Having negative feelings about ourselves can impact our stress levels and inflammation in our bodies.

It can also increase blood sugar, blood pressure and lead to weight gain-the very thing you wanted to avoid!

Health At Every Size (HAES)

A lot of people seem to misunderstand the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement. It is NOT promoting obesity as health.

Rather, HAES is all about putting the emphasis not on your weight, but on actual health.

After all, health is NOT a number, but a behavior. You can be skinny with heart disease or obese with perfect blood pressure.

If you lost five pounds but still had high cholesterol, do those five pounds really matter?

The main gist of HAES is that you can not determine a person’s health by their physical appearance. You also can’t assume their health habits, such as how much they exercise.

What are some exercises I can do to work on rejecting the diet mentality?

The first step I recommend to all my clients is to do a deep dive into your inventory. Throw out all the magazines, books, and newspaper articles that promise quick weight loss.

Donate the pair of jeans from 10 years ago you look at for motivation and treat yourself to clothes that fit your current body.

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Finally, sit down and reflect on your past dieting experiences. List the diets you’ve been on or the food rules you follow.

Write out how long you followed the diet/food rules, whether or not you saw results and how long you saw the results for.

Jot down how dieting has affected your life over the years. Did you have to skip birthday cakes or reject invitations to dinners? Were you as present as you wanted to be? How much money did all of it cost?

Above all, if you’re truly serious about becoming an intuitive eater, you’ll need to get rid of any lingering hope that a new and better weight loss diet is just around the corner.

Conclusion

Rejecting the diet mentality is the first principle of intuitive eating for a reason. It sets the stage for everything else.

In order to move forward in your intuitive eating journey, you need to let go of the diets.

Recognize the damage the diet cycle causes: loss of self trust and self respect, increased anxiety and depression, obsessions over food and exercise to name a few.

And this damage not only impacts you, but everyone around you.

It’s time to break away from the shame of diet culture and head towards food freedom.