Are You Dieting? Never Again!

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I have told these words before, in other posts: I will be dieting never again. But let me tell you the particular anecdote of this week behind this phrase.

A few days ago, my husband and I went out for a walk and when we were going back home, we saw a restaurant and decided to have lunch there. I ordered grilled chicken and a side salad. The chicken came with fries and two sauces. I kindly asked for one grilled potato instead of the fries and I also said that I didn’t want the sauce. When the waiter approached our table with the food that we had ordered, he looked at me and asked: “no sauce? what happens? Are you on a diet?” I replied: “dieting? Never again!”

The truth is that this situation reminds me of many other occasions of the past in which I replied “yes, I’m doing a diet” or “yes, I shouldn’t eat that for a while”. So, the other day, my response to the waiter awakened conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it brought me joy: I answered that I was not on a diet! This is still relatively new for me 🙂 But, on the other hand, I also wondered: why eating clean and making healthy and conscious choices as far as food is concerned should be understood as a diet? I am not on a diet anymore, what I really do is to take care of my body; I look for the choices that will have a positive impact on my health. I respect my body so it is all just that: treating it well, with love and responsibility. It’s not a diet; it’s a way of life.

Just The Way You Choose To Live

There is another typical sentence that I have had to listen to when I avoid eating certain things: “I’m sure that you don’t eat those things because  you are afraid of gaining weight”. Well, I’m afraid of spiders and snakes, but I’m not afraid of gaining weight anymore; I have already done that mental work. I simply care about my body needs.

I guess it is difficult to understand for many people. When I think about my own trials and tribulations with the topics of diet, deprivation and extenuating exercise, I can better see why some people still think about salads, fruits and veggies and fresh juices in terms of diet and food restriction. I thought that, having gone through so much in this sense, I was an expert; I thought that I knew everything that I had to know to succeed and regain the body I had once. However, all this –supposedly- wide and quality knowledge hadn’t put my goal closer to me. I knew (and almost everybody knows) that eating fresh veggies and fruits was good for me but I didn’t really know to what extent, eating “comfort food”, could ruin my health.

I didn’t know many other things such as, for instance, that eating what nature delivers to us can be something not only beneficial for your health but very, very enjoyable and delightful. For me, eating lots of veggies, fruits, raw cereals, seeds and nuts and creating original and super tasty recipes is the normal thing. It is not what I do to maintain or to lose weight. It’s just the way I live with regard to the essential needs of my body.

Watch What You Read, See And Listen To

I was misinformed indeed and I lacked much other relevant data. The fact that this happens is quite easy, taking into account that, in the  information era (I like more the terms information overload or infoxication) we are overexposed to messages about very diverse issues and, many often, we don’t have the time to stop and select relevant, reliable information. We receive faster than what we are able to process so, in the end, it is very easy to get confused and/or going for the wrong information. Also, it is all orchestrated in order that specific messages, from certain companies, prevail over others; so, you think you are consuming what you want, but in fact, you have chosen what you are more exposed to, what they wanted you to choose. Please, take care before making an important decision about what you are going to do regarding your health or any other aspect of your life.

What do you think of all this? Do you think that misinformation is an important part of weight issues? Leave your comments and questions below. They are much appreciated! 😉

Featured image of post: Marcin Wichary

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