I know there are many who would beg to differ when they read the title of this blog. If you keep reading you will understand my conclusion a lot better. As people, we are obsessed with the word “diet”. Rarely does it ever mean our nutritional habits but we have come to associate the word diet with a weight reduction or weight control system that others have claimed have worked for them. This is not a post about changing our eating habits to be more nutritionally healthy. This is a post about the fad diet systems that many of us get caught up in thinking or believing we will lose weight we gained with unhealthy habits.
Here is the point I want to make here. We have been trained and conditioned over time to “go on a diet” when we begin to gain some body fat we have deemed “unsightly”. Let me first tackle the “going on a diet” statement. Usually this means some sort of structured fad diet that either a director of a company, magazine, or close association has preached to us because we have gained weight and now we have to somehow cut our lives into slices to cut the weight or fat off of us. As I continue, you will see this is a conditioned idea in our society and our weight gain is used to facilitate the conditioning. I have to admit, I get caught up on this one as well. I think if I have gained some weight I need to “go on some diet” to get back to where I was happy or more comfortable. For some reason I have joined the ranks of those who believe extra body weight somehow disqualifies me as beautiful or acceptable. This is where the word “unsightly” comes in. I’ve actually heard this word on a diet or fad diet commercial. Do you mean to tell me that anyone who has some belly fat or a little more than they used to is unsightly? How much more can the diet industry insult us with this statement and have us take it in? Apparently a lot.
What it all tells me is if I go from a size 8 to a size 10 suddenly there is an unsightliness about me that I should not accept because others will not accept me now either. How rude is that? Even more so, “How WRONG is that?” I’m not stating we are meant to be unhealthy. There are a lot of health reasons we should change our eating habits. What I mean is the insulting ways that numbers, whether on clothing or on scales, have come to overtake our brains to the point we feel BAD about ourselves if they go up a bit or even more than a bit. Let me just shift your thinking here. You are NOT a number either on the scale or your clothing size. Yet, we all tend to allow these numbers dictate how we feel about ourselves every day of our lives.
Let me give you an eye opening concept here. When you were born into this world you had no knowledge of of the numbers game nor the diet concept. You traveled through life with instinct. You were fed and ate when you were hungry and stopped when you were full! Gaining weight was a reason to celebrate! More than likely your doctor weighed you and your weight gain meant you were thriving as a new human. Your chubbiness was cute! Never ever did anyone state you were unsightly because you gained some body fat. Am I right here? My point is that going through instinct was the best way for you to thrive!
Let me interject another number here; time. As you grew there was a time set for everything. Most all of us were met with the statement, “It’s time for dinner, lunch or breakfast.” Time became something that also regulated and as children we were expected to eat during those times hungry or not. Right? Talk about conditioning! What happened to allowing our bodies to tell us when we are hungry and when we are full? This idea was usually replaced with the concept of eating everything on our plates or we could not leave the table. It became taboo to leave a single morsel of food behind. God forbid because there were always some people who were starving and would love to have that food! I am not knocking charity here. I am trying to understand why we could not be given smaller portions to begin with so there was nothing left undesired.
So, here we are. We are regulated by sizes, our weight number, and time. I have to ask you; why does eating to survive have to be regulated? Society has its structure, mostly because of the common work day. Time becomes important because of our schedules. I’m not sure we can change the entire way companies schedule our eating times but we can change our mindset as to how we eat, how much and get rid of some of the numbers game. What happened to eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are full?
I’m going to tell you right now, the diet industry has harmed us all. We lose weight, think its great and our bodies suffer for it. Most of the time we gain it all back as our metabolism slows down and we lose muscle from depriving them of what they need. Then when we gain weight back, we gain more than we started with and it becomes harder to lose. I’m just giving you some food for thought, pardon my pun here. Weight control and bringing in new nutritional habits should be our best bet and that happens with a change of mindset. I can’t think of any other way besides reprogramming.
Reprogramming can be done through mediation, hypnosis, or positive affirmation. Changing what the subconscious mind has soaked in all the years you have been here is the first step toward changing a mindset so ingrained into society we all seem to live by it and often feel we die inside by it. The way we look at ourselves should not be in the eyes of the diet industry or anyone else but through the lens of who we truly are. We are valuable! I read someone stating that hypnosis did not work for her. I am willing to bet she was not held accountable enough to keep it going. Some things take patience and encouragement!
Believe me, there is an easier way to live and it has nothing to do with numbers, diets, or body image issues. There is a more free way to look at ourselves and the way we eat and give ourselves nutrients. Food is a blessing, we are a blessing and life is a blessing! Why not treat it that way?
Loving you from here,
Dr. Rev. Jenine Marie
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** This post is not meant to replace advice from your medical professional. We are all different. This is meant to be an eye opener as to how much we need to change our mindset when it comes to food and the way we look at ourselves. If you have a medical issue please contact your medical provider.
** Reference:
Podjasek, Jill H., 1997 “The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People”, Contemporary Books,
Chicago IL.
Life Lessons by Jenine Marie 