Trust Your Inner Wisdom (and break free from Dieting)

The Wisdom of Dieting

Who’s been on a diet before – lost weight, regained weight and done the whole thing over again?

The word ‘diet’ has evolved over many years of experimentation. It used to summarise your daily assortment of nutrients or food intake, but over the years ‘diet and dieting’ have become more about restriction, starvation and deprivation.

When we don’t like our reflection, especially those thighs and that stomach, we tend to blame our body and put it on a diet.

When we have no energy and feel bad about ourselves, we often think we’re not trying hard enough, adding worry and stress into the dieting effort.

Major reasons people want to lose weight are:

  • Feeling sick and tired of feeling sick and tired
  • Fearful about the risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease (on the rise since the 80’s)
  • Wanting to be a better role model for their children

We’re seeing a rise in many popular diets and ways of living: paleo, vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, raw.

For many, eating a certain way is due to ethical, religious or allergic/inflammatory reasons.

For a large majority, following a diet may have little more reasoning than because it’s popular – and well, just maybe this time it will work.

When we restrict and deny nourishment to our body, we often wrestle with cravings, tiredness and mood swings. We try a diet that a friend lost weight on, or one that a celebrity follows, not really considering if it’s suitable for our own individual needs.

Our willpower lasts for just long enough before the brain overrides the body and reaches for a quick fix of fat, sugar and salt.

At this point we think we’re a failure, struggle to keep going, and start to believe that it’s all too hard.

The key point to remember is that diets will mostly work when adhered to as written, but they are not a sustainable or enjoyable way of losing weight and getting healthy in the long term. And for some people, specific diets may do more harm to their body than good.

The greatest ally in figuring out what natural Diet or way of eating is best for you, is to start trusting your own inner wisdom.

With an onslaught of “advice” about what to eat, what not to eat, how much you should eat and when, how on earth are you supposed to make sense of it all without becoming OVERWHELMED and totally CONFUSED?!

A sage approach is to be mindful of your hunger and satiety signals and stop looking outside of yourself for the answers.

No aspect of “dieting” will teach you about long term peace between mind and body. And it certainly won’t help you figure out what’s going on behind your eating habits (Beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behaviours).

Diets encourage you to focus outside of yourself and follow a plan. When are you focusing within your body and listening to what it responds best and worst to?

And what are you learning about regular real food nourishment, lifestyle habits, hunger and satiation, stress and mood issues, sleep and digestion? Very little.

If you’re not listening to your wisest counsel (your body) how will you ever get off the diet-food-weight-mood-stress roller-coaster?

Find your OWN way of nourishing your body, in a way that feels right for YOU. This is what I help my clients discover once they stop reaching for quick fixes, 7 day detoxes, fat-burning pills, metabolism boosters and meal replacement shakes: to listen to their bodies and make wise decisions based on overall health, lifestyle and stress management.

A short term diet can’t teach you a long term solution. However your mindset, beliefs, feelings and thoughts can teach you everything when you learn how to be mindful, make conscious choices, and trust your inner wisdom.

Start now!

Viki  xo

PS – I’m hosting the first Darling Downs Women’s Wellness & Self-Love Retreat in October.

 

About Viki

Viki Thondley, The MindBodyFood Coach

Viki Thondley is a Mind-Body Wellness Specialist and qualified Holistic Counsellor, Food, Stress & Lifestyle Coach, Meditation Therapist, and Eating Disorder Recovery Coach who inspires women to shift from dieting and restriction to whole-self nourishment, self-care and healing. Recovered from bulimia nervosa and the many years of hormonal imbalances, food prison and self-sabotaging behaviours’, Viki is an inspiring coach, speaker and event host who also provides personalised holistic programs, workshops and retreats to instil self-love, happiness, body confidence and real food freedom. She is author of “Achieving Your Wellness: Create a Life You Love” and “Healthy Chocolate Delights: Real Food Sweet Treats”.

Sign up to her Happy | Healthy | Confident newsletter for her free 43 page eBook “Break Up with Dieting: 10 Tips to Calm Your Mind, Relax Your Body & Eat With Pleasure” + weekly whole-self nourishment tips, inspiration and recipes!