Whether now or in the past, have you felt pressure from yourself or others to lose weight and fit a certain body image mold? If so, I am truly sorry you have experienced this. This pressure, whether we inflict it on ourselves or subscribe to others projecting it onto us, only causes more stress. This stress then leads to elevated cortisol levels, our stress hormone that is secreted from our adrenal glands. When this occurs, our body goes into a “fight or flight” mode. It doesn’t know the difference between a tiger standing in front of us and needing to run away or mental and emotional stress that is usually induced by the daily stressors life: work, school, parenthood, etc.
If a tiger was standing in front of us, our liver would produce sugar to provide us with immediate energy to run away from it. Well, the same goes for when our body is under mental or emotional stress to help “run away” from the stressful situation. That increase in sugar can suppress appetite or even cause sugar cravings. It can also work against any weight loss goals you may have in mind.
The bottom line is, removing the pressure to lose weight is in your best overall interest. To learn more on how to lose weight with less stress, schedule your free consultation with me today!
I counseled a patient yesterday at the Nutrition & Diabetes Center I work at. This woman initially sought nutrition counsel to help with her anemia and improve her iron status. We addressed this concern over 2 sessions, but then another nutrition-related concern surfaced, and that was her self-reported unease and disgust about her weight. This woman is not clinically overweight nor obese (not that it really matters, but I’m trying to paint the picture here). She simply wants to get to the weight she was a few years ago.
Despite exercising 6 days a week and eating a mostly balanced diet, this patient is having difficulty getting to what she perceives as her ideal body weight. But that’s just it. What we think our body weight should be sometimes isn’t the weight we are meant to be at for optimal health….She gained some of this weight over the pandemic, but also, in eating to increase her iron and other nutrients because this is what her body requires. Then I posed the question, “Should we prioritize your overall health or weight loss?”. The obvious answer is the former, but this patient replied with, “If I lost weight, everything would be better.” This sentence hit me hard.
When we put pressure on ourselves to lose weight, stress increases. When stress increases, there is an increased release of cortisol and a negative impact on our psyche and Central Nervous System. Not to mention, stress releases sugar from our liver. 😮 This extra stress and pressure we put on ourselves actually makes it more difficult to lose weight and is counterproductive to our goals and health. The restriction mindset is never beneficial nor helpful in the long run.
After hearing this, I halted nutrition counsel and immediately transitioned to an Intuitive Eating approach. I reminded her that weight doesn’t define her as a person nor would make everything better even though it may seem that way. One sole thing in life cannot possibly dictate how our lives go. Instead, I told her to forget any meal timing structure or guidance I previously provided and to throw out the food “rules”. This woman needed permission to eat all foods in moderation and enjoy her meals again. She felt that she could only eat certain things to achieve her goals, and this isn’t the case. While my approach to nutrition counseling is a gentle one, this woman still took my words to the extreme and interpreted them in a way other than what I had originally intended.
Intuitive Eating gifts food freedom and the ability to enjoy foods you love in moderation while still achieving health goals. This resonated with my patient, and I hope it does for you too. Part of my goal as a dietitian is to certainly improve the nutrition status of individuals, but also, their relationship with food. If weight loss is achieved secondary to these changes and approach- great! But when we put all of our eggs in one basket and expect only weight loss to occur, you will also lose autonomy, the choice to choose any foods, and true self-love and respect for yourself.
At DC Nutrition, I have you set metrics of progress other than weight loss so the emphasis is elsewhere. Those other metrics can aid in weight loss, but it takes the pressure off that goal. You need to still enjoy your life int he process and realize that losing weight does NOT equate to everything magically getting better. This is a red flag statement 🚩, so if you’re there in your thought patterns and approach- see a dietitian! Whether that’s me or someone else.
I just returned from my trip to NYC 🌃 and Montreal, Quebec in Canada 🇨🇦. While I consider myself fully recovered from my eating disorder, I was surprisingly challenged on this trip when old notions and negative thoughts surfaced surrounding food. This specifically occurred after my husband suggested we get pizza in NYC. You see, I wasn’t really hungry after having a late bagel sandwich for breakfast. I am now very in tune with listening to my hunger and fullness cues, so I just didn’t want to force feed myself or feel heavy after eating such a rich meal (or so I told myself). Part of my reasoning was the meal choice… but I hesitantly agreed because I could tell my husband wanted the pizza, so we ordered and sat down. Before diving in, I kicked my negative thoughts butt and said, “Danielle, you are in New York City. Eat and enjoy the damn pizza! 🍕 “. And I did just that without looking back. Now, was the pizza a fully balanced meal? NOPE. Did I listen to my body in that moment? NOPE. Did I listen to my heart and soul? YUP. In that moment, I chose to live a full, happy, and food freedom of a life, and damn 👏 it 👏 felt 👏 good. 😜 Good enough, in fact, that I’m now writing this blog post to share with y’all in the hopes of reaching someone else who needs to hear this.
Let me break down the nature of feeling guilty or shameful after eating certain foods. Dieting, restriction of food, and disordered eating patterns partly stem from seeking control. When we travel, our routine is naturally thrown off beat, which can lead to making you feel even more out of control. A shift in routine + food access and food choices looking differently can really affect someone who is accustomed to specific eating patterns, is sensitive, or struggles with mental health issues. This is quite normal.
But does deviating from our normal eating habits mean that we “fell off the wagon” and should feel guilty? HELL to the NO, boo! Vacation implies relaxation and enjoyment, and stressing about your food intake sounds like the last thing I want to be doing on vacay. Do you agree? P.S. This applies to everyday living as well, not just vacay btw!
So how can we eat what we want on vacation (and always) while still applying gentle nutrition strategies? Great question! Let me start by defining gentle nutrition. Gentle nutrition is taking the nutrition knowledge acquired from a credible source and applying it to what we WANT to eat. In other words, it’s a way to add nutritious foods to our diet without feeling limited or restricted in any way.
A quick run down looks like this. ➡️ A simplified balanced plate contains a 1. carb, 2. protein and 3. veggie. Let’s say you find yourself traveling to NYC like I did and you want to try NYC style pizza 🍕 . First of all, great choice! 😉 I always explain to my clients that the crust of the pizza is the carb, the cheese is the fat and minimal protein, and the meat is the protein. So, is that a balanced meal? It could be with the addition of veggies! Did I have any veggies on my pizza? NOPE. Do I regret it? NOPE. But guess what? I could have easily ordered a veggie on my pizza or ordered a side salad to get that component in. YES! Pizza can be considered a balanced meal. 🤯 You’re welcome for that bit of information.
Instead, I chose to incorporate my veggies with dinner and at other meals that day. THIS is food freedom + gentle nutrition. Choosing, accepting, honoring and enjoying our food choices without the guilt or shame but then adding the fruits, veggies, and other nutrients when we can to provide our body with the actual nutrients it needs to thrive and feel its best.
Food doesn’t always have to be perceived in terms of calories or labeled as “good”, “bad”, “healthy” or “unhealthy”. There are just some foods that are more nutrient-dense than others and each one provides its own nutrition profile of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and macros. The end. Let’s not overcomplicate this.
In addition, will eating a certain way on vacation contribute to such a change in your body composition that it will “ruin” all of your previous hard work, progress, or that it will make it difficult to come back from? HAHA NOPE. Do you know how difficult it is to gain pure fat in a short amount of time like vacation? This perceived weight gain is usually water weight retention we experience from being dehydrated, consuming alcohol and excess salt or carbs.
So, the next time you find yourself doubting your food choices, whether in everyday life or on vacation, try to catch yourself and reframe with these helpful reminders. ⬇️
I require food to live.
Food is fuel for my body, despite its form.
I can have my fruit/veggies later.
I deserve to enjoy my food.
Food is pleasurable.
I am allowed to eat any and all foods.
Food is not toxic to my body.
Food is not good nor bad since it has no moral value.
All food contains some nutrition.
Did this resonate with you? Do you want to continue improving your relationship with food? Schedule your FREE nutrition consultation here to get started.
Feed Me Happy 