I tend to do things a little bit differently than most dietitians out there today. All of my life I have always been the one to find a solution to a common problem or situation in ways that have never been done before. You can call me curious, crazy…. I like to refer to myself as avant garde, or a trendsetter if you will.
I have been counseling clients on dietary needs and embodying overall of health and wellness now for a little over 7 years, 3 years with the addition of nutrition; however, I have been researching and trying different “diet” plans myself since my mid teens. Nutrition and dieting have always been in my awareness since I can remember, as a dancer; it’s always at the forefront of our minds. I used to be the queen of Health magazines, food magazines, etc. Anything and everything that had a diet plan for me to follow to help me create the body that I wanted while dancing, I had it in my possession and I was probably following it to a T, which set me up for a path of destruction.
General diet plans that you see all over the internet and in magazines, etc., is that they don’t work for the long term. I like to call them the “gateway to lifestyle change.” They lack education; this is something I have noticed over the years in my career as a professional dancer and now in private practice as a dietitian and embodiment coach. Living with celiac disease and multiple food sensitivities, I have experienced first hand that some of these diet plans that are out there in the world can cause more harm that good, especially if you are a sensitive soul and always have been. These quick methods can throw your body into a state that sometimes is challenging to overcome.
Here are 11 reasons why diet plans and I don’t mesh and why you will not get “diet” plans when we work together.
1. Every BODY is different: What may work for Jane, may not work for Annie and Annie may gain weight instead.
2. You won’t learn how to fuel your body properly: Sure you’ll be a master at serving sizes, counting points and calories in certain foods but take all that instruction away and what have you learned?
3. Restricting yourself to only certain foods and times to eat isn’t living: When you can’t give yourself chocolate because it’s not on your diet plan, it WILL fail. Just sayin.’
4.You become disconnected from your body: When you are following something on paper as to when and what you are supposed to eat, it takes removed your ability to tune into your body and learn your own rhythm.
5.I believe in ENJOYING your food, and paying attention to your body to see if it enjoys it as well.
6.Eating Disorders can arise from following restricted diet plans for too long. Food phobias start to develop when you are limited to only a certain number or types of foods in your diet. You begin to unconsciously restrict yourself and become afraid to add anything else into our diet.
7.You begin to fear the F word: Yep, Fat. Consciously or unconsciously you begin to steer clear of fats of all kinds in the diet. Sooner or later you will end up becoming deficient, and this will disrupt the cycle of making hormones among many other processes that fat is vital for your body to function efficiently.
8.Jumping from Fad diet to fad diet can impact your body in a very negative way. Constantly jumping from fad diet to fad diet can leave you with an immense lack of nutrients in your body and create several unwanted side effects such as—food sensitivities that can de detrimental to your overall health and well being.
9. Dieting can lead to overeating: Constantly being on a “diet” you trick your mind into restrictive mode and end up wanting more and more “cheat” days. I am here to tell you, there should never be a cheat day in your eating. The way you feel your body is a LIFESTYLE. You allow yourself what your body is craving and guess what- binge eating won’t happen.
10. Focus on the outcome rather than enjoying the process and learning about your body: Diets disconnect you from your inner super powers. Seriously, you start focusing on the issue so much that you lose site of all the amazing things that are going to change within your body and your lifestyle itself. Learning to connect with yourself and to tap into you super powers, enjoying the process should be a time of experiencing and learning about who you are, what makes you tick and the foods your body is CLEARLY telling you it loves and what it hates.
11. Changing the way you eat is NOT instantaneous. It’s not even possible in one month. 90 days are the minimum it takes for your body to drop what it needs to drop and soak up what it loves. If you are trying to do this at record speed, guess what, you will become totally disconnected and will more than likely fall off the horse and end up 20lbs heavier that where you were when you started… pissed off and puffy.
All of that being said, I totally understand if you feel like you have no clue where even to begin if you want to change your lifestyle, sometimes a guideline of simple dietary steps customized for YOU helps in the beginning. Reach out to someone who is skilled at dietary guidance, and nutrition education you about sound nutrition can really help you change not only your eating, but the way you view eating.
There is SO much anxiety around food and fueling your body – simple perfectionism blocks most of us from truly embracing changing what we are putting into our bodies. These days there is so much pressure to be perfect and feed your body the perfect foods, but I find that totally stresses not only you out mentally, but your body feels it as well. When your body is stressed and in fight or flight guess what- it acts like a bear and goes into storage mode because it can’t relax enough to process and soak up all the food stuff you are putting into your body.
Someone who is skilled in working with nutrition and WHOLE body wellness can give you the tools you need that you may have forgotten about, or they may be entirely new to you. Sometimes all you need is a sharp eye, fresh perspective and a cheerleader to keep your spirits up and good vibes flowing!
Do you agree with me on this?? Do you disagree?? Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear from you!
Xo
Colleen
