Paleo.
Keto.
Intermittent Fasting.
Optavia.
Whole 30.
Beachbody.
Isagenix.

The list goes on and on, doesn’t it? I just listed out what this “mom brain” could think of at 6:30 on a weeknight evening. Diet culture has been on my mind a LOT lately. Why? Probably because I work with women who are up to their eyeballs in the diet culture mindset. You may have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’d like to share some of what I see and hear in working with women to find TRUE freedom {the fact is no diet plan can give you freedom…that comes from changing your mindset and habits in relationship to food and not something any diet plan can do for you.} I’m brokenhearted over the mental and emotional turmoil I see women in due to diet culture. UGH.

• I hear things like “I’m afraid to eat,” I don’t know which foods are “good, or “bad.” “Tell me what to eat.” They have fear of food. And the judgement of food is incredible. Which goes back to judgement of self. No diet plan is going to take away that judgement. A retraining of the brain will. Maybe that’s why Romans 12:2 tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind.” Yet, we don’t talk about that in regards to food in the church, do we?
• It sounds like “I ate too much, now I feel guilty.” Food isn’t intended to bring guilt on. Know what does? Diet culture.
• I hear things like “I want to be skinny.” When we dig deeper and ask why, it’s because women think that being skinny will make them pretty, or skinny = pretty. That’s not true. That’s surface, superficial junk from diet culture. Let’s face it, we live in a world where we are inundated with what we “should” look like, what size we “should” wear, and the list goes on….but where does our soul fit into there? Where does the way we were made fit into there? Where does what we desire fit into there? Oh, it doesn’t, because we are too busy trying to fit into the damn societal box instead of being who we are truly made and called to be.
• It sounds like hearing the scale isn’t moving. To which I say “throw out the blasted scale!” If you are getting on that sucker every morning and the number on it dictates if your day is good or bad, it has too much power in your life. It’s not even honest, anyway, so you’re letting a liar start your day? NOPE.
• I hear things like I need to workout more! I’m not working out enough so that must be why I’m stuck. NOPE. Actually, if you have adrenal issues, working out harder makes things worse for you, weight and healthwise.
• It sounds like I don’t know how to honor my hunger and fullness. When am I hungry? I’m hungry all the time because I’m used to not eating enough. Once again, diet culture messing with us, because when we don’t eat enough, our bodies freak out and in order to protect us, make us hold onto fat vs release it, which is the goal of under-eating.

So, where does all of this confusion and overwhelm come from? DIET CULTURE. We have lost touch with how to listen to our bodies, how to honor our hunger and fullness {most of us were never taught this, I wasn’t until I went to school}……what foods work for us, as we are so busy trying the latest diet of the week because we haven’t broken up with the mindset of what works for one, works for all. IT DOESN’T. It’s a lie. You are unique, your body is unique and trying to put on a diet without regards to that is just a trap. It’s not your fault sweet friend, that your relationship with food isn’t healthy. Look at all the mixed messages we get. Scroll your newsfeed and you’ll see enough in a few minutes.

In all honesty, this is a part of why I went to school to become a certified health coach. Prior to coaching, I was a Beachbody coach, which means I paid to join the company to sell their products to help others lose weight. In all honesty, I really did feel like I was helping people at the time. However, looking back now, I realize I didn’t have the tools in my toolbox outside of the Beachbody offerings. If they didn’t buy the products, I wasn’t equipped to help them. That’s why I went to school…..I saw a deeper issue. Due to my own relationship/history with food, it took a lot more than a workout and shake for me to heal my relationship with food, my relationship with myself. Because again, if your relationship with food isn’t healthy, no diet program/plan can touch that. That’s behavior modification. For habit change, you have to do the inner work. That’s what I learned about in coaching school, and why I went to school. If you’re like me and sick and tired of diet culture and want to find TRUE freedom, I invite you to join me on a free personalized food struggle assessment call. You can schedule yours here. It would be a joy, delight and honor to journey with you to freedom, sister.

And, be sure to grab my free resource on 7 Ways to Body Freedom and Peace here, so you can start to find freedom and peace.