Here's Why a Nutritional Therapist Wants You to Reclaim the Word 'Diet'
by Emma Kenton James
Weight Watchers, Atkins, Slimming World, keto, paleo, caveman, Cambridge, the cabbage soup diet, juice cleanses, Slim Fast… and breathe… the list goes on and on.
How many times have you seen pictures of someone stood in one leg of their old size 30 trousers extolling the virtues of their chosen weight loss diet?
Like every story that leaves us with a ‘happily ever after’ feeling, those smiley poster girls and boys are often not the end of the fairy-tale. Weight regain, loose skin, fluctuations, and feelings of failure are part and parcel of the experience of such ‘diets’. Often the companies pushing these diets do not aim to re-educate and empower. They are designed to get participants’ financial buy-in, show initial dramatic results, and take the thinking out of food choices.
I’m not shaming the people behind these ‘before and after’ posts. Extremist views on either end of the spectrum won’t win the fight for body positivity for the future generations. What will help is learning how to nourish ourselves; understanding that having a diet is not about calorie cutting or restriction, winning or losing, skinny or fat.
Your diet is made up of the food that you consume.
That’s why ‘diet’ should not be a dirty word associated with guilt and discomfort and punishment. Food is a gift, and we should allow ourselves to enjoy it. It is energy, fuel, strength, and abundance.
Weight loss diets can work, for a time, for some people, but they should not be prescribed as a blanket protocol with one size fit all. Every body is different and will respond differently to individual lifestyles. Your body’s response to food is dependent on its unique hormone levels, fat storage, metabolism, stress levels, hydration levels (and the list goes on).
So, it’s time to reclaim the word ‘diet’. Your diet isn’t about restriction, but about finding ways of eating that suit your lifestyle, your likes and dislikes, and allows you to thrive.
Nourishment is an act of kindness and self-love.
Find a way of eating that suits your needs; that supports your well-being both physically and mentally. This is my understanding of the word ‘diet’.
Title image by smiling_painter.
Emma Kenton James is a Nutritional Therapist and founder of The Yana Clinic.
