Objectives
Constant dieting inevitably leads to guilt around food. Let’s put aside our fears and try to remember the days when we enjoyed meals and focused on the food. If I eat this I’ll get fat. Why can’t I control my hunger. Ah.. I need to go on a diet. Try not to let these thoughts get in the way of the simple joy of eating. If the very thought is difficult, and your already feeling hopeless that means it’s time to quit dieting, for good. But how? First, to overcome that hopelessness, we need the advice of those who have already succeeded.
Scary and Difficult, but Worth a Try.
❓Ask yourself : Are you really ok?
For humans, the act of 'eating' is more than simply supplying fuel for survival. We discover the pleasures of life, big and small, while eating. However, a society that prefers certain bodies pushes us to ignore that joy. Trapped in this conflict, we become more and more obsessed with food
If your stuck in the cycle of starting diets, giving up, and feeling despair, its time to stop for a minute and look inside yourself. You need to find the root of the problem.
* Signs that your obsessing over food *
✴️ You feel guilty when you eat food
✴️ You keep a list of ‘bad foods’ that you shouldn’t eat
✴️ You obsess over or rely on counting calories
✴️ You ignore any signals of hunger your body sends
✴️ You’ve tried all the latest diet trends
✴️ You find it hard to say what you want to eat when other people may be watching
✴️ You’ve experienced extreme food restricting or binge eating.
If you repeatedly experience any one of these signs, you need to change your attitude towards food. Is it really fine to eat a delicious cake and instead of the flavor focus only on shame, guilt and stress? Definitely not. That kind of attitude only makes your life harder, and causes sadness for the people who love you.
❗ If your not OK : Let’s turn it around
Who needs to eat? I’m determined, I’m going to skip meals and succeed in this diet! There are times when we feel confident. We can refuse the temptation of that delicious cake. However, even with this determination we’re still obsessing over food. Constantly repeating ‘I can’t eat that’ over and over in our heads we start to fear and distrust ourselves.
In the end, the me that eats cake and the me that doesn’t eat cake are both trapped within the same thoughts of food. The only difference is that one of us is hungry. The irony is that the more we refuse food, the more we obsess over it.
Then what does it mean to have a healthy relationship with food?
* Signs that your NOT obsessing over food *
✳️ You think it’s okay to eat the foods you want, whenever you want.
✳️ You don’t ignore signals of hunger
✳️ You don’t forbid yourself certain foods
✳️ You don’t focus on your weight
✳️ You don’t need to come up with excuses to eat food
✳️ You eat the foods you want to eat
✳️ You don’t choose food based on calories
✳️ You understand that you are not defined by what you eat
If you don’t check even a single one of these boxes and feel hopeless, that’s okay. You’re not alone. Many people are struggling with the same feelings. Throw away the pressure to immediately check all the boxes and focus on the right method at the right speed for you. You can slowly work on each problem one at a time.
✔️ I Quit Dieting and actually lost weight feat. Cheedo
Cheedo is a Youtuber, known as South Korea’s number one ‘Natural Size’ model. She’s someone who realized her obsession with food and broke free before us. She shares her method through her video titled “I Quit Dieting and actually lost weight!”. Cheedo spent over 10 years dieting, including eating and purging until she experienced an eating disorder. So how did she manage to quit dieting for good?
Follow Cheedo’s 5 steps to accepting yourself, and regaining a healthy life.
5 Steps to Quit Dieting
- Natural Size Model Cheedo's Story
Step 1 : Starting is hard but stay strong!
🙁 I was determined to eat as much as I wanted.
🙁 Can I really eat this? Worry set in.
🤨 Regardless, I moved on to the next step
Step 2 : Accepting and Feeling Encouraged
😣 Admitting to myself that I didn’t have the energy to diet anymore.
😣 Accepting that stopping dieting is the best option for me.
😣 Stopping all negative thoughts.
😣 Eating! Really eating everything I wanted!
😣 Encouraging myself. “Good job.” “You ate well.”
Step 3 : Changing your Attitude to Food
😯 I started to feel comfortable in the idea of eating whatever I wanted.
😯 As the anxiety faded I could start to focus on the food again.
😯 I stated to really taste the food, and enjoy the act of eating.
Step 4 : Satiating your Mind and Soul
😌 I could recognize and appropriately deal with my hunger.
😌 I could have meals that satisfied my body and my mind.
Step 5 : Turn your Attention to Other Needs
😎 As my appetite was satisfied, I became interested in other areas of life.
😎 As I focused on other things I no longer obsessed over food.
😎 The weight I gained from overeating went down and I found my healthy self.
😎 Finally I managed to quit dieting! For good!
Summary
- If we stop obsessing over what we eat we can remove the stress of diets from our lives for good
- It may be scary and difficult, but let’s challenge ourselves to start a truly healthy life
