The winter of my sophomore year at university, my dad gifted me a copy of the Weigh Down Diet. Always concerned with the size of my body, my mother was constantly sending me information about caloric restriction diets and tips of who to achieve a thin frame. None of which had the desired effect outside of poor body-image. So I was skeptical when I picked up this book from my dad, assuming this would be yet another fail.
I only finished the first half of the book, stopping when the author launched into incorporating the Christain faith into her philosophy, but the first half of the book immediately changed the way I viewed my relationship with food and how I viewed my body. Four months later at the end of the semester, my dad came to take me home for the summer and found me 15 lbs lighter with a new outlook on how I was feeding myself.
I've been thinking about the Weigh Down Diet over the past few years, given all the hype about Paleo, Keto, and Whole30 diet plans. The idea that certain foods are off-limits has brought back a lot of anxiety given that shame-based approaches tend to have the opposite of the attended effect. So when Cup of Jo had a post about Intuitive Eating, followed by many body positive posts, I found myself not only nodding along but also coming the realization that I was overdue for resetting my own eating habits.
So for the month of January, I'm taking a break from sugar. Currently, I'm three days into this process and suffering some serious withdrawal symptoms, which are oh so fun. But I know that without this reset, old patterns will be difficult to break making this a necessary step. In addition, I'm spending a lot of time listening to what my body is actually saying, honoring what it is asking for even though some of those desires would be considered poor ones for any of the traditional programs.
All of this is still odd, particularly given so there are many who are also embarking on their own eating-habits resolutions and this approach is very different from what they are doing. But just as I've learned to honor different aspects of other journies, so too will I be doing the same here; sharing this experience while supporting others in their own endeavors.
Addiction to Prediction
11 hours ago
Good luck to you! I am impressed, cutting out sugar is hard. I've never done it but I've seen people who have, and that withdrawal stage is awful! I hope that this brings you peace and a healthy relationship with your body. I agree that so many shame based approaches do not.
ReplyDeleteYou are prompting me to do the same. Hmmmmm....thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I remember going without chocolate for about six months, some years ago... I always kept some in my desk drawer at work & I would just gobble it down mindlessly without even really taking pleasure in it. And I really didn't miss it much after a while, at least, not like I thought I would. (I did eventually go back to it, but I don't eat it like I used to since I stopped working!)
ReplyDeleteMy stepSIL (who was quite heavy) was diagnosed as diabetic (runs in her family) & threatened with insulin shots... since then (about two years ago), she's cut out sugar entirely, and simply by doing that & nothing else, she's lost something like 90 pounds. She's still a big girl, but looks & feels so much better these days, and her last bloodwork showed no signs of diabetes!
Good for you! Do what feels right for your body for sure. :) For me, Whole30 wasn't so restrictive - the biggest things I noticed were cutting out alcohol (not a bad thing to do anyway, ha!), no cheese (which helped me realize how often I added it to EVERYTHING and used it as an ingredient instead of a condiment), and no added sugars (which helped me realize how often sugar is hidden in dang near everything!). My point is that we all find different approaches helpful, and I'm glad you found one that is working for you!
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