A lot of people in San Antonio, TX, are extremely focused on diet. They almost make it their life’s focus. They are the people that are part of the diet culture. What’s wrong with that? It not only takes the focus off real living, but it also gives you a warped relationship with food. You should enjoy food, not make it your enemy or best friend. It’s one of life’s pleasures that also keeps you fueled and healthy. If you want the best way to get healthy, quit the diet culture and start focusing instead on healthier foods you enjoy.
Focusing on diet, especially a strict diet, is counterproductive.
The diet culture entraps you in a life of deprivation and shame. That’s right! If you’re constantly on a diet, you’re constantly depriving yourself of the things you want to eat but “can’t.” When you do step out of the shadow of a diet and consume a special treat, then most people fall into the pit of shame that they’ve destroyed their diet and have failed. That constant rebuffing takes all the pleasure out of life.
When you fail at a diet, what’s normally the next step?
If you ate that cookie or cake, it feels good to give yourself a treat after being so deprived. People with a diet mindset often feel they’ve failed, so why bother? Instead of just eating a cookie, they often eat the whole dozen and clean up the entire quart of ice cream, too. It’s an all-or-nothing part of people in the diet culture. When you focus more on eating healthy, rather than a specific diet, you can eat a cookie or two without feeling ashamed or depressed. You simply don’t make it a habit.
You make food too important in your life when you have a diet mindset.
You can’t go to specific restaurants or any restaurant for that matter, if you’re part of the diet culture. Even those with salad bars may not carry the food you’re supposed to eat at supper or lunch. It takes all the pleasure out of eating and puts the focus more on the exact food, calorie count or precise serving. You’d be far better off and enjoy life and your meals more if you simply focused on replacing starchy foods with more green, leafy ones and limiting the amount of foods you eat that contain added sugar.
- Savor the food you eat. Start with healthy food and eat slowly, focusing on flavor and texture with each bite. It’s called mindful eating and can help you lose weight without all the drama of dieting.
- Some people think of sweet treats and fattening foods as rewards. Don’t do that. It makes unhealthy food far more important than it should be.
- Learning more about your own eating habits can be more important than a diet. Do you eat when you’re sad, frustrated or bored? Find a better way to deal with those emotions and eat healthy meals at other times.
- You can do many things to help curb your appetite that don’t involve dieting. Drinking a cold glass of water before a meal, getting up and moving around or having healthy snacks, like fresh veggies, ready help.
For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio