*photo credit Andrew – These girls are my world, if I can teach them anything it is to trust themselves.
At the beginning of quarantine we were stuck inside baking, filling time with snacks and drinking wine every night to cope. I was stressed, anxious and on edge about the virus, my family’s health, about not getting enough movement, about eating too much and plenty of other things.
Around May I found Noom, believing the ads that psychology would help change my relationship to food. Honestly I do think it helped, a bit. In addition tracking your food, you get daily articles to read and reflect on your eating habits, you also get a support group and a coach (both were super helpful). But they also encourage you to weigh yourself everyday, I knew this was obsessive from the start. My favorite part of the program were the articles about mindset around eating and the challenges that encouraged taking a day off from tracking, eat what you want, and trust your body. As I continued, I realized this is what I needed: To Trust My Body.
Once I let go of Noom, I started to listen to the book Intuitive Eating, and I started following Caroline Dooner on Instagram, the author of The F*ck It Diet and am now listening to her book.
The main thing that these non-diets have in common is TRUST. Trust your body, trust your mind, trust you will not eat ALL THE COOKIES, trust that movement is meant to feel good. Trust your cravings. Trust that if what you are doing is causing stress, anxiety and pushes you to eat without control or restrict things you love, it might not be the right fit. Trust that your body will naturally fall into the right set weight for you and that the number on the scale is irrelevant (this is really hard for me – I should really just throw the damn scale out…baby steps)
I am realizing that decades of food habits and diet culture mentality is engrained in me. And I understand that reading a few books is not going to change all these habits overnight. But I am also introducing new tools that help me TRUST my choices and my body, listening to my cravings (not fighting them) and believing that I am good enough exactly as I am, this is the right path. This is the most important lesson, guidance, and knowledge I want to give my daughters.
Life is too short to be on a diet or worry about what we are eating. Food is nourishment and should be enjoyable, it can be a wonderful treat and a beautiful way to create and share with people you love, I never want to punish myself for what I ate or restrict something that I enjoy.
I recommend these books to anyone looking to get off the diet roller coaster and change their relationship with food. But understand, it will take time, I am in it too, so please reach out if you need support.
*Please note: This post is not intended as medical advise. I am not a doctor, nutritionist or counselor. If you have or think you have an eating disorder or in need of help around your eating behaviors please contact a professional. This is just one mom/yoga instructor/women’s opinion on diet, MY body and my relationship with food.
KathyGorohoff.com 