Reversing diet culture can seem like a difficult chore in a society fix-obsessed on artificial appearance standards.
Though many of us have been trained to follow rigorous diets, track every calorie, or vilify specific foods, it’s time to reassess that strategy. Long-term health and pleasure depend on your learning to trust the natural signals of your body.
Define diet culture
Diet culture holds that worthiness and health follow from thinness. This kind of thinking motivates us to develop negative habits include rigorous calorie control or food labeling as “good” or “bad.” But our bodies are clever; they know what they need; and by listening to our cues for fullness and hunger, we may at last break free from this poisonous cycle.
Advocate of body positivity and nutrition Rosie Blake says, “Your body knows when it’s hungry and when it’s full. The issue is that we have been instructed to discount those indications. We need to quit torturing our bodies and pay attention to them.
How to begin to trust your body?
1. Reject Diet Mentality Stopping a diet is the first step in trusting your body. This is about releasing rigorous norms and constraints, not about mindlessly eating. Eat when you are hungry; stop when you are full; let yourself to savor all kinds of meals guilt-free.
2. Celebrate Your Need. There is no enemy here except hunger. Your body is seeking sustenance when you are hungry. Listen to that signal instead of trying to push through or discount it. Select foods that both satisfy and feed you.
3. Eat with Conscious Attention Mindful eating is about really being present with your food. Steer clear of distractions, enjoy every morsel, and notice how your body feels both during and after meals. This exercise clarifies the requirements of your body.
Discovering Independence in Food
One freeing experience is learning to trust your body. Give up stressing over every meal or limiting yourself according on arbitrary criteria. Rosie exhorts, “When you stop focusing on weight and start focusing on how you feel, that’s when true health begins.”
Eliminating diet culture and reawakening your body can help you not only with your physical condition but also with your connection with food. You deserve to start trusting yourself once more.
