We have been led to believe that outside sources know more about our bodies than we do.
We have been conditioned to look to diets and experts to tell us
what to do,
how to eat, what to eat
and
when to eat it.
We are willing to do almost anything... aside from listen to our bodies.
It’s pretty wild when you think about it.
I know now I am the expert on my body, but it took me years to get here. I wasn’t always, at time we were barely on speaking terms.
I wish I could tell you the solution. I wish I could boil down what worked for me and hand it off to you, give you a guide book that would allow you to experience self-trust and self-respect in your skin.
And in some ways I can. The tools are universal and all lead to one starting and ending point:
Listen to
YOUR body.
But don’t ask me what I eat. What I eat isn’t applicable for you. The amount of carbs I eat work for my X pound body, that moves X minutes and day, sleeps X hours a night and has X stressors... What goes into my body is indivucal to me.
What I
do
doesn’t matter.
My best advice comes from what I
stopped
doing.
I stopped judging my food. I stopped measuring my food.
I stopped weighing my body.
I stopped earning and burning food through exercise. I stopped restricting. I stopped trying to make up for what I ate by limiting the next day. I stopped doing extra cardio, running extra miles, logging extra minutes. I stopped “being good” after I was “bad”.
I stopped “cleansing” every Monday. I stopped thinking Pizza was something I could only have on the weekends because that implies it is bad.
We don’t place limits on things we deem as good or neutral.
I stopped saying things like “in moderation”, because again, that implies it’s bad. People say they drink “in moderation” because they know drinking in excess isn’t ideal. No one says “I sleep but only IN MODERATION”.
I stopped using harmful language around food.
I don't say "I need to clean up my diet".
If I feel like shit from a weekend of eating sour patch kids, carbs and cheese I acknowledge it, drink some water and
move on.
I ask my body what it needs, give it the space to answer, honor that answer
(the most important part)
and continue about my day without feeling the need to undo/cleanse/clean-up/insert your diet bullshit here.
When I feel like shit, like I over did it, ate to much of things that do not serve me,
I pause.
I take stock of how my body feels without judgment and then make the next best choice.
Ask myself:
what do I need RIGHT NOW to feel better.
Our bodies will tell us exactly what we need if we are willing to give them the space to answer.
I stopped rushing back to all those old behaviors that kept me stuck.
I was never "cleaning up" anything. I was fucking myself up and keeping myself stuck in a never ended diet cycle.
I sit with whatever I am feeling now. I stopped judging myself. I stopped telling myself I messed up...
What I STOPPED doing is more powerful than anything I’ve added.
I am not an expert, but I learned that I can’t find a cure without being willing to treat the cause. Dropping the harmful behaviors made the need for someone else’s guidance less and less and empowered me to trust myself more and more. It’s pretty great.
I know calling our bullshit around our behaviors and relationship with food is hard. I stumbled for years before I figured out how to actually listen and learn from my body. That is why I made the Magic Mindset program - linked below: to help you learn how to listen and learn from yours. To help you figure out what YOU need to feel amazing without ever feeling restricted. If you are over dieting and diet-based bullshit this program is for you.