Stop waiting for Monday and start today!

Monday’s are awesome because it is the start of a new week. It is a time to start fresh and clean. It is a time to set new goals and start something new and fresh. Whether you love Mondays, or loath Monday’s, one thing is certain…you are most likely to start a new diet on Monday.

When I was in the fitness world, working out, and dieting I heard it all the time. I will start on Monday.

You have anticipation and hope that you are going to start a new diet. You probably do really well. You lose weight, you feel better, and you are excited and hopeful. Diets don’t last forever and you start to eat foods that were not on the diet. So when you eat these foods you feel bad.

Diets don’t work.

Diets create a mentality of judging food. You judge food as “good” or “bad”. So when you eat food that is “bad” you judge yourself. You start a cycle of dieting and losing, then gaining, then dieting and losing again, and on and on… It becomes hard to trust yourself and your ability to eat food.

Rules SUCK!

And that all a diet is, RULES. You have rules about what you can eat, what you cannot eat, what is right, and what is wrong. Diets encourage you to restrict and deny yourself. Diets tell you that food is not fun and not good. But let’s be honest, food is GOOD. There are all kinds of feel good chemicals that are released from your brain when you eat food. It is enjoyable, but following the rules of a diet keeps you from experiencing this.

It is possible to eat well and take care of your body. Here’s how:

• Take care of yourself. What is something you can do today to relax and love yourself today?

• Eat when you are hungry.

• Stop judging food as good as bad.

You know how to take care of yourself. Your body knows what it wants to eat. Eating a “bad” food for lunch does not mean you are a failure at your diet. It just meant that you were honoring your body and that is health. You have the option to choose a different option at the next meal. Instead of dieting try, 1) taking care of yourself, 2) eating when you are hungry, and 3) eat what you want. Try these things to learn to trust your body and yourself to eat what is healthy for you.

This is a complex issue, this video is not meant to treat emotional eating, binge eating, bulimia, or anorexia. Rather it is intended to provide information and tips to help you improve your relationship with your body and with food.

This is not easy, but it is possible.

You can learn to love your body and love your life. You can learn to challenge disordered eating thinking and behaviors. You can learn to have confidence and self-acceptance. If you find you are having trouble with this, please ask for help. There is a lot of good support and help out there for you.

If you find this information helpful please share. This is a very complex issue that cannot be addressed in a 5 minute video, but feel free to ask questions and comment. Perhaps there is something I can help clarify for you.

Still not sure if you have an eating disorder? Here is a self-assessment, https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/screening-tool. This quick tool is to help you determine if you have an eating disorder and if you should get help. Visit NationalEatingdisorder.org to find help and get more information.

Do you feel you struggle with an eating disorder? Call Dr. Stephanie and see how you can overcome the cycle. For more about Dr. Stephanie, click here: texomaspecialtycounseling.com