Do You Diet Without Dieting?

I haven’t been officially dieting for a long time.

I don’t restrict my calories, count fat or carb grams, binge or have a list of forbidden foods. I don’t exercise to earn a permission to eat my favorite foods. It goes without saying I’m above all that dieting nonsense like Cabbage Soup Diet or Blood Type Diet.

I’m so smart, am I not? :-)

Nevertheless, I’ve started doubting that dieting mentality is still firmly rooted in the deep recesses of my mind. Whether I’m officially dieting or not, there’s something peculiar about my relationship with food .

It’s like I had a bomb inside me waiting to go off at any moment!

What set me thinking is the curious way I behaved on my summer vacation. I’m referring to the day I spent eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ice cream for lunch and generally enjoying all the foods I usually don’t allow myself to freely enjoy. I wasn’t bingeing and felt no regret the day after.

It’s obvious I usually keep myself in a tight control and can let my guard down only on special occasions like vacations.

There are many other signs I don’t trust myself around food:

• I don’t keep stashes of my favorite treats like chocolate, candy or ice cream at home
• I constantly stress about my diet meeting my strict health requirements
• My diet consists mostly of the same old “safe” foods
• I try not to eat “too much” and carefully avoid eating goodies “too often”
• It’s all about health: taking pleasure in eating plays a minor role

From Unconscious Dieting To Normal Eating

I care about this issue because I doubt that unless I’m able to normalize my relationship with food, I will never be able to lose weight permanently. It’s not enough that I lose weight slowly and “sensibly”, I believe it’s equally important that I learn to trust yourself around food again.

What I ultimately strive for is the kind of relationship with food I had as a child. I enjoyed eating normal meals and consumed candy, chips and ice cream without guilt. I didn’t know carbs and calories from Barbie dolls, and I certainly didn’t spend my time worrying about fats, carbs and nutrition data.

And all the while I was effortlessly thin and healthy.

Learning To Eat Normally

I’ve already started the process of learning to eat normally, or intuitive eating if you want to call it that. I simply decided to step off the beaten path and stop controlling my eating.

I’ve been on it less than fourteen days and some surprising things have happened already. I ate ice cream on eight consecutive days. :-) Once I forgot a bar of chocolate half-eaten on a shelf for a few hours, which would’ve have been impossible just a while back.

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Use the comment box below to tell about your relationship with food. Any signs you’re dieting without being counscious about it?

Best Wishes,