2705: How to Live a Non-Diet Life in a Diet Culture by Crystal Karges on Mental Wellbeing & Nutrition Advice

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Health Daily, How to Live a Non-Diet Life in a Diet Culture by CrystalCargis of CrystalCargis.com and I'm Dr. Neal, your host and narrator.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to another edition of Optimal Health Daily. This is where I read to you from some of the best health and fitness blogs on the web, kind of like an ongoing audiobook.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, don't forget we have a bunch of shows where we cover a bunch of different topics. Check them all out by searching for Optimal Living Daily wherever you're hearing this.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, and with that let's get right to the post and optimize your life.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Live a Non-Diet Life in a Diet Culture by CrystalCargis of CrystalCargis.com

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you reached the point where you are done with dieting? Are you tired of the weighing, the tracking, the list of foods you shouldn't or should be eating?

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you sick of feeling like you aren't measuring up every time another diet fails? You can leave all that behind by saying goodbye to dieting forever.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Making the decision to give up dieting for good is a powerful choice that will change your life for the better.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But often, the decision itself may not feel like enough in our culture that is completely submerged in the dieting mentality.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Just take a step back and be aware of where it's lurking. It's an advertisement.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Splattered across magazines at the checkout aisle, in conversations with coworkers and distant relatives.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Diet Culture is everywhere. So, how exactly can you go about living freely apart from diet culture when it's part of your everyday?

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The key is to be proactive about deliberately creating a lifestyle that is no longer dictated by a dieting culture.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: What does this look like practically? Well here are three simple ways you can begin breaking free from diet culture in your life today.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Go on a diet. Wait, what? A digital diet that is.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Time to detox from all the negative messages that are subtly influencing how you think, feel and move throughout your day.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Take an honest look and inventory at your social media accounts website, blogs and podcasts that you frequently engage in.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Are any of the online accounts you follow part of the diet culture movement?

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a good chance you may be following someone who frequently touts the latest diet products,

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: or before and after pictures that claim to be evidence of the latest and greatest diet fat.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Time to cut this stuff out of your life and away from your precious mental space.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: The average American spends nearly 24 hours per week online. That's a lot of screen time.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, follow those who encourage you, make you feel positive about yourself and the body you are in now,

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and who don't push dieting in any shape or form. Trust me, a digital diet is the only and best kind of diet you will ever need.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Period. Watch your mouth and your thoughts.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you speak about yourself and your body? If you've been in diet culture long enough,

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: your thoughts and beliefs about yourself have undoubtedly been influenced to make you feel like you are not good enough.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The most freeing part about breaking free from diet culture is letting go of the lies that have plagued you, including

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't be successful until I lose weight. I don't deserve to be happy.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm worthless and unlovable the way I am. I'll never measure up. I don't deserve to eat the foods I like, and on it goes.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The lies can stop now. The first step toward freeing yourself from this damaging rhetoric is to be aware of it.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: What are the lies that have been circulating in your mind? How is diet culture destroyed the way you feel about yourself and your body?

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you saying any of these things out loud or dwelling on these things throughout the day?

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: It's time to get your precious mental space back. Catch the thoughts or words as they come to mind or are being said and ask yourself,

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Is this aligned with diet culture or is this helping me break free from it?

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Be ready to counter those lies with truths about yourself and your worth.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Even if you can't believe them yet, the more you practice, the easier it will become to grow into this new identity. You've got this. Here are some ideas.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I am inherently worthy and valuable regardless of my weight or body size.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I am loved and deserving of love, no matter what the scale says. I deserve to be kind and compassionate to myself.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't need to conform to an arbitrary standard of beauty. I am free to live the life I have always wanted.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And my body does not need to change in order to love and be loved.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Make friends with food and your body.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Ditching the diets means you are free to trust your body as the ultimate guide to what you need to eat.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: You are no longer a slave to diet rules that tell you what you can or cannot eat.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Nor do you need to feel guilty or ashamed when those diet rules are broken.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: You are free to enjoy, honor and respect your one and only body.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Food is meant to be both nourishing and pleasurable.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: There isn't any diet that will allow you to experience this freedom and begin to feel at home in your body at the same time.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But you have to first decide you've done your last diet.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It is possible to cultivate a positive understanding of health and what it means to care for and nourish your body.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that may be scary when diets are all you've ever known, but ask yourself this.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Has your diet ever been loyal to you?

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't think so.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But your body will always be there for you, doing everything it can to protect you on your life journey.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it time you trusted it to do so?

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Giving up dieting means making peace with all foods and treating your body with the respect and kindness you give to other people.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Food is not the enemy.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Your body does not need to be resisted.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: You can find the freedom to embrace a life you love when you give up dieting for good.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So, whether you're at the crossroads and considering giving up dieting or have actively started to move away from diet culture,

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: know that you are not alone.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember that you are deserving of a life that is not defined by a dieting culture, and you are capable of breaking free.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled How to Live a Non-Diat Life in the Diet Culture by Crystal Cargace of CrystalCargace.com

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember speaking to a patient of mine that wanted to try one of the recent popular fat diets of the time.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I was hesitant to have them try it because I thought, well based on the patient's medical history,

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: it may cause them more harm than good.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't like that I was against them going on this latest fat diet.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact they said, well according to this popular celebrity magazine, Jennifer Aniston is on the diet and she looks great.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Woof! Where do I begin?

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Do I start with how this magazine may not be reporting the most accurate information?

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Or do I start with how diet doesn't completely explain why an actress, actor, model or anyone else looks a certain way?

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Or do I start with the other hundred arguments bouncing around in my head?

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Today's author Crystal was correct when she said that diet culture is everywhere.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Even at the dinner table with family, someone will ask me a question about a food or the latest diet,

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and even before I can respond.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone else at the table jumps in and shares their opinion about it.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not bitter or anything, but I'll share with you what I say almost every time someone asks me about the latest diet,

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: can you imagine eating this way for the rest of your life?

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: No? Well then we need to keep digging and find something you can stick to.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright that'll do it for the Tuesday episode.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll be back here tomorrow in where you're optimal life awaits.