Seriously though, what if you just stopped counting calories, buying pricey shakes & supplements and said hello to carbs for the first time in forever?? What if you focused on health promoting behaviors like getting enough sleep and reducing stress instead of worrying about how many carbs are in an apple?
Quitting diets has been hard for me, and I've almost fallen victim to diet culture a few times this past year, so I know first hand how you're feeling.
Think about your favorite food, how does it smell? how does it look? how does it taste? I'm going to bet you didn't say a protein bar or a keto brownie? but if you did, please keep reading bc you definitely need to hear what I'm going to say!
Tacos helped me break up with diets. I remember eating a sad romaine lettuce heart filled lentil "bikini" taco and eating "skinny" guacamole with veggies one night while my hubby chowed down on massive burrito from Chipotle and thinking wow, this is actually terrible. I f*cking love tacos and here I am denying myself of my FAVORITE food in the entire world to be smaller?
We've all done it, meticulously counting calories, measuring a portion of carrots, saying no to pizza or tacos & having a salad or eating 8 "healthy" brownies instead of a few bites of the real thing.
Have you ever felt guilty any time you had a real cookie? ice cream? pizza? pasta? tacos? I used to beat myself up anytime I had regular tacos, crispy tacos or really any Mexican food in general. I'd workout for hours to burn it off or eat nothing but salads for days on end.
I'd say no to my favorite foods because they weren't a part of whatever stupid diet plan I was following at the time. Telling myself there is:
too much fat in cheese
too many carbs in tortillas, rice & beans
too much fat in avocados
tofu was healthier than chicken
So I'd eat lettuce wrapped tofu tacos topped with salsa & non fat greek yogurt with cauliflower rice and 1/4 of an avocado, telling myself I was "good" for following the program.
When I would finally allow myself to have my favorite foods, I'd order too many tacos, eat too many chips, have too many margaritas OR I would overdo it on foods I didn't even really like because I felt so deprived most of the time.
The cycle repeated for years on end, trying every diet in the book to lose a few pounds and gain back twice as many. For every diet that promised me weight loss & lasting results, I only ended up with loathing for my body and low self-esteem.
I was introduced to intuitive eating on Instagram, read The Anti-Diet and finally thought, what I just focused on eating 80% healthy foods and 20% foods like tacos, brownies, cookies etc. When I removed the stigma that I couldn't have something because it didn't fit my "diet" I found that I actually craved "junk" foods less.
When I stopped dieting
I ate chips and guac without overdoing it.
I had less stress around eating out, parties, travel and food in general
I felt more satisfied eating 1 real cookie then I ever did with 8 protein cookies
I had more time to focus on my relationships, my business and my happiness
I felt more comfortable in my body
I had more energy
So this year instead of setting weight loss goals, committing to a diet you'll likely quit by february and buying into the shame and self doubt that diet culture preys on, why not focus on YOU. Challenge yourself to resolutions & goals that have nothing to do with shrinking your body.
Try these journal prompts for setting New Years resolutions:
What makes you happy?
What have you always wanted to learn or try?
What are 3 good things that happened to you in 2020?
How would your self esteem and confidence improve if you focused on your health, mindset & appreciation for your body?
Have questions? Drop them in the comments or tune into Keep it Real with Bri & Sarah on Wednesday 12/30 @ 9am PST where we will be talking about how to set & achieve your New Years Resolutions.
xoxo,
Briana
