You’ve probably been on more ‘diets’ than you can count and are starting to realize that you need to stop dieting because diets don’t work. The endless cycle of being hungry while on a limited amount of calories, counting careful portions with your favorite foods. It leaves you empty, tired and prone to binging. You beat yourself up and wallow in self-pity, telling yourself that you just aren’t strong enough or good enough. You feel tired and you just want to get off the diet merry-go-round once and for all.

How can I be Free From Dieting and still be happy?

Two of the things that “diets” typically promote are calorie and food restrictions. You’re limiting calories to unhealthy levels which cause you to feel hungry and deprived. This teaches us to ignore what our body is telling us and sets us up for failure. Once I stopped restricting my food, I no longer thought about food constantly because I wasn’t famished! Yes, I did go through a short time where I ate everything I was denying myself. Then I got bored with it because I could have it whenever – it wasn’t off limits. It lost the lure of the forbidden fruit.

Lack of sleep was another thing that was sabotaging me. I’d wake up tired and groggy and want to eat something carb-rich and sugary to give me a pick-me-up. I had no willpower to think clearly, I just ate whatever to get me going. This cycle would repeat itself throughout the day. Now I have a set bedtime and do my best to stick to it. I know how much better I feel the next day when I get enough sleep. I get out of bed ready to tackle my day without needing a “boost” to get me going.

Is it really that easy to stop dieting?

If you’ve been dieting on and off for years, you can’t just flip a switch and expect everything to follow smoothly without some hiccups. You have to be willing to make a lifestyle change. You’ve probably heard it a million times but it really is true. It took me until just recently to “get it”. When you’re on a “diet”, it will eventually end or you quit. You go back to what you were doing before. This usually results in gaining weight back, often more than you lost. What most seem to miss is that you can’t go back and expect not to gain weight. If you’re going to stop dieting, something has got to change. It’s up to YOU to decide what that will be.

I started by looking at what I was eating. What gave me the most enjoyment and what made me feel ‘meh’ after indulging. Pop was the first thing to go. I switched to water with very little effort as I like water anyway. Needing to make more changes, I started looking at the quality of my food. This made the biggest difference for me. I started choosing “real food” over processed or packaged food. If I wanted pizza, I had to make it from scratch and – I had to use fresh or minimally processed foods to do that. This was one of the hardest things to do, since cooking at home from scratch can be time-consuming. Depending on what you make, it can also cost more than the take-out you would normally pick up. It takes effort and planning to pull it off and I struggle with this one more often than not. When dining out, Dan and I try to choose non-chain restaurants as we feel the food quality is better – it’s not as mass produced for consistency.

Free From Dieting at last

My goal for the future is to work on making meal planning more of a priority. When I do that, I feel so much better. I haven’t been on an official “diet” in years and I am happy to say I have lost and kept off over 35 pounds since I stopped dieting and started looking at food differently. This lifestyle journey is something I am in for the long haul. Yesterday I ate salmon, and for the first time, I didn’t think it tasted gross!

What are you struggling with? What’s holding you back?