let's stop dieting | Health & Fitness

This year, I am making it a point to stop the dieting!

​Honest and vulnerable moment here: I feel like I have dieted eighty percent of my life; even as a young teenager. I have created both healthy habits and not so healthy habits. I am afraid to admit that in the last year, I have realized how toxic some of those habits are to myself.

I have made a resolution to focus on those habits. Understand where they are coming from, so that I can create healthy habits for my family, myself and honestly, love myself and my body more. I will still be working towards a healthier lifestyle, but this includes eating foods that fuel my body, not foods that deprive it. 

As women and moms, sometimes we put ourselves last. We shower last, we eat last, we go and do for everyone and everything.Loving ourselves is also on the last of priorities, while it should be one of the most important things we do and teach our kids to do, also. These sweet babies learn by example. I recently saw my kids imitating a workout routine they have seen me do multiple times, my youngest followed up a “set” with a quote she learned from one of her favorite cartoons, “ME CAN DO ANYTHING!”. That’s right sweet girl, you can!

So, what does dieting have to do with self love. Okay, so dieting becomes compulsive to me. I get wrapped up in whatever diet I am trying at that time, and if I vear from it, I beat myself up. Anyone else feel that way? 

After tons of research, it is evident that most of the diets or lifestyles that actually work are very similar. But, the fad diets can actually be very harmful and nutrient lacking. Overly restrictive diets limit you on the foods you may actually crave, they often fail to serve you in healthy ways, they can slow your metabolism; all of these reasons combined make these diets unsustainable. When you come off these diets you gain everything back, and then some, at times. 

Losing weight is often the goal behind one’s reason to follow a diet, but ultimately we should be aiming to live a healthy lifestyle. 

Let’s talk about some ways to stop the dieting, focus on fueling our bodies, loving our bodies

be intentional

Be aware of what you are putting into your body. Make choices based on what serves your body best. Contemplating a cookie? How will that cookie make you feel after? The answer shouldn’t be based on guilt alone, as one cookie every once in a while is not going to end your healthier lifestyle, one whole package of Oreos might though!

Try to make an effort to understand how certain foods make your body feel. A lot of times our body tells us directly what foods fuel it well, and also what nutrients it is lacking. Example, sometimes I crave good crunchy vegetables; usually, that is my body telling me I need the nutrients from those veggies, usually my body is needing iron (hence the want for crunchy items) and vitamin C. It can also mean you may need more magnesium or calcium. If I crave chocolate, I usually need foods with magnesium, such as greens, nuts, seeds, or even a super foods shake. ​
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stop restricting yourself

It is the most common thing, the moment you tell yourself you can’t have something, that is all you want or crave. This can and will lead to binge eating, and then can lead to disappointment in yourself. I don’t know about you, but I am not interested in setting myself up for failure! Indulge in the items you enjoy, but reasonably. I enjoy carbs, but I don’t eat them every meal, I make the choice to choose lower carb options most times, or items high in fiber. I often eat spaghetti squash, zoodles or diced zucchini with spaghetti sauce instead of noodles. I will choose whole grain English muffins opposed to a biscuit or white bread toast. ​

Learn to Determine if You Are Truly Hungry

Here’s the thing. Eighty percent of the time, I am hungry because I am bored. Even at work, I can have the desire to eat because I am bored. I try to stay busy for this exact reason. I will find things to do, drink a bunch of water, and fight till it is closer to meal time to eat.

Sometimes, we are stress or emotional eating. Those of us who work stressful jobs or maybe our family is going through something very stressful can understand this. I used to be one of those people, I would warrant a stress filled day to chicken nuggets on the way home from work, which would be late at night, and of course I had to get fries because that was the easiest thing to eat going down the road. I had the idea that I deserved those nuggets and fries. No, my body didn’t deserve to be filled with processed foods, especially that late at night! ​
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workout consistently

At times, all it takes for us to fuel our body better is knowing that we are putting in great effort and work in the gym or in workouts, to make the decision to eat the salad of the quarter pounder with cheese and large fries. Also, if you eat that, then workout at some point in the near future, you may feel really bad during and after that workout, because that meal is not fueling your body how it needs to complete the tasks that you are asking of it. It is really simple, put in good, put out good. ​
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Mindset Shift: Finding Happiness  ​

This is really what it all boils down to for me, mindset shift. We have to learn how to build healthy eating habits that become natural to you. On top of that we have to learn to let go of emotional eating, we have to learn how to help our bodies not crave sodas and junk food. We also have to how to be happy with ourselves and our lives, from inner peace to relationships, our life needs to be healthy, so do our relationships and bodies. This is something that Sean Wheeler, Atlanta Hypnotist for Finding Love, can help you with. Yes, he specializes in finding love, but he can also help you with this part of your life.

Pure Hypnosis | Sean Wheeler can help you with finding love, weightloss, fears and phobias, stopping smoking, compulsive behaviors, memory improvement, and more!