4 skills to help you to stop dieting and develop a healthy relationship with food

Only around 16% of people manage to maintain weight loss in the long term following a weight loss diet

This is an evidence-based statistic.

Many women I work with know that dieting for weightloss isn’t a happy way of life and they desperately want to part company with obsessing over food so that they can focus on the things that really matter to them.

The truth is diet culture is rife and heavily targeted at women. If you are someone who has been exposed to diets (as so many of us have) then it takes a few skills to make the shift away from restrictive food behaviours, towards more nourishing food and lifestyle practices..

Life-skills Needed to Stop Dieting for Good

Get your emotional health in check….

Quite often people can pin a lot of emotional hope on weight loss. Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘I’ll be happier when I lose weight’, ‘Things will be different when I lose weight’, those kind of things?

There's little doubt that losing a few pounds, if that is what you want to do,  might make you feel better in yourself, but not much else in your life is going to change. You'll still have to deal with the issues and challenges in your life that may have caused you to overeat in the first place. This is where checking in with your emotional health comes in. Learning a few skills to explore what is going on behind the scenes in a safe way can help you to approach any unwanted eating behaviours with self-compassion and support you in making meaningful changes.

Learn how to eat ‘off plan’, without rules, long term

If you've been in a patter of dieting, you might be used to following quite a prescribed meal plan, which can leave you feeling a bit lost when you want to come off the diet. This can feel scary and overwhelming. Making sure you have some basic nutritional knowledge, specifically around how to manage your blood sugar levels (something that can lead to weight gain) is a good thing to learn. Check out The Non-Diet Method for help with this.

Learn to tune in to yourself more

Slowing down when you're eating and learning how to tune in to your natural hunger and fullness levels is a great way to naturally manage your weight. When you sit down to a meal, just eat! Put the phone down, turn off the TV and limit distractions so you are aware of what you are eating and can enjoy the experience. This can really help you to eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full. Forget food rules, give yourself permission to leave food when you’re full, take foods off the forbidden list and try to relax around food, all off this will help to normalise your eating behaviours.

Stay Focused on Your Health

Believe it or not, your health and wellbeing are two of your greatest assets, not your weight or dress size! Think about looking after your health rather than weightloss and you should naturally gravitate towards more healthful behaviours.

When you’re dieting for weightloss, it can end up being all you think about and you are worth SO much more than that. It is absolutely possible to feel good, manage your weight and be healthy without it taking over your life. Instead of focusing on dieting, focus on building these skills that will serve you so much better over the long term.

Do you feel confident enough to quit dieting for good? Let me know in the comments.