By: Colleen Hammann
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach
(5 min read)
How Health Coaches Can Help Clients Ditch the Diet Mentality
5 Tips to Help You Ditch The Diet Culture
Summer may still be a month away, but as the weather heats up many of us feel the pressure to slim down. Every year we’re flooded with messages about “bikini bodies”, crash diets designed to get our figures “ready” for the season.
As difficult as it may be I challenge my clients to make the conscious choice to subscribe to the school of thought that promotes healthy choices - be it food or lifestyle - for their inherent benefits, all year long - meaning intentionally and mindfully caring for, nourishing, and moving my body 365 days a year because I want to and because it feels good.
Rather than thinking of diet and exercise as a short term quick fix, I think of them as tools in my self care kit that I have all year long. Instead of worrying about how my body looks from May to September, I focus on how I want to feel and adopt healthy habits that allow me to feel confident throughout the year.
Here are 5 Tips to help you ditch the diet culture and get you focusing on mindfully and intentionally caring for your body 365 days of the year.
1. Practice Mindful & Intuitive Eating
DO YOU FEEL SHAMEFUL WHEN EATING FOODS YOUR ENJOY?
So often we eat mindlessly. We eat while working, watching TV or scrolling through social media, or when we’re on the run. The pleasure of eating lies in slowing down and fully experiencing all the elements of food.
When we eat for hunger, we are better able to enjoy our meal. And when we choose to indulge, we can do that mindfully as well. Eating slowly and consciously allows you to savor your food. Mindful eating is also an act of self-care. When you nourish your body with what is needed, you are less likely to feel heavy, bloated, and lethargic after you eat. Plus, you are less likely to gain weight.
Knowing what is driving your hunger allows for you to be aware of why you need to eat. Maybe you are feeling lonely and really just need to pick up the phone and call a friend. Maybe you are feeling stressed and would benefit from a walk outdoors or an activity that increases your heart rate. Or maybe you are just tried and need to go to sleep. Having awareness allows you to understand what you are truly hungry for in that moment.
2. Eat to Nourish Your Body to Feel Good -
Do you categorize foods as clean, good or bad?
Food shouldn’t be about deprivation or giving up your favorite foods. It’s about enjoying what you love but using ingredients of higher quality that benefit your overall health.
Using food for Energy, Vitality, and Nourishment is what food is meant for.
What you eat changes everything. It can make a powerful difference in your life - what we eat effects everything from our skin’s appearance to our immunity to our memory and learning ability to preventing diseases to reversing the progression of other illnesses to simply feeling better overall - at any age. It shouldn’t be an all or nothing approach as diets tend to promote. Food should be about the individual, not about the diet theory.
Food does much more than just satisfy our hunger. It provides the fuel our bodies need for thinking, moving, growing, repairing and living. Our diet doesn’t just affect weight; it also affects nearly every physical process.
There are so many widespread misconceptions out there about food. For one the, “calorie in, calorie out” theory for weight loss and health is probably one of the most established . Many, if not most, people who decide to embark on a weight loss regimen begin to count calories to ensure they take in fewer calories than they burn. But the problem with the “you can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise it off” theory is that all calories are not created equal. It’s not only the quantity but the quality of the calories that count when it comes to weight loss and overall health. In other words, you should be more concerned with the ingredients you’re eating than the calorie count on the nutrition facts panel.
3. Bring joyful Movement into your life -
Do you exercise to compensate for the foods you eat?
I admit that I have had a complicated relationship with exercise in the past. I used to exercise to shrink my body or change its composition. I believed the toxic “no pain no gain” narrative and that I had to suffer to get results.
Over the past several years, I’ve shifted my focus towards mindful and joyful movement. I partake in activities that I enjoy doing with a mix of things like walking, barre, yoga, weight lifting and HIIT Training and I don’t push myself past my limits. Consistency is key but can be a struggle with little kids around, except for walking as I’ve built it into my family routine. So, when it comes to movement, choose something you enjoy enough to do consistently, that fits
into your life.
Accountability is also a factor in being consistent with your workouts. Having a gym buddy or working with a health coach who keeps you accountable to your commitments help to keep you on track and getting the movement in.
4. Stop Letting Your Tastebuds get Hijacked
Ever wonder why you cant stop eating a processed food when you didn’t plan on finishing it?
One of the biggest misconceptions about food sold in grocery stores is that it’s all safe to eat. Product labels are deceiving, hiding risky chemicals that contaminate our food and designed to be addictive and eat more than we should. You ever wonder why you can eat an entire bag of chips but would never attempt to eat 2- 3 apples in a row. Well, its not your fault. Chances are the product is heavily processed and contains additives and chemicals to preserve its shelf life.
One of the first things you should do is start looking at the foods you are eating and trusting. Many things you eat are designed to make you come back for more and have a hard time quitting. There are so many ingredients used in foods that are marketed as diet friendly and give off the appearance as healthy diet foods. We are easily fooled by deceptive marketing and packaging. From sports drinks to protein bars to popular health supplements that are filled with refined sugars like white sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sugars. But the good news is you CAN escape the spiral. All you have to do is eat real food!
Focus on ingredients, not the calories. Start with small steps adding real whole foods into your meals eventually you will crowd out the other stuff. Get back to cooking at home where you control what is going in your body. With the warmer months ahead I love to take advantage of the vitamin-rich, nourishing fruits and veggies at my local farmers market. Eating plenty of raw fruits and veggies from leafy greens to antioxidant rich berries- it’s a great way to potentially inspire you to try some new produce and get you excited about adding in these foods into your diet.
Once you get off the roller coaster ride of the pull to eat heavily processed foods you will never want to go back again.
5. Ask for Help & Seek Support
These are just a few tips to getting closer to rediscovering your body’s natural response to food and ditching diet culture. Working with a non-diet integrative nutrition health coach to dive deeper and take the next steps in healing your relationship with food and ditching diets for good! Learn to find balance and consistency in your eating habits for good without dieting.
The way to create lasting change in your body is to eat food as close to nature as possible. Since I began eating this way, I have never had to diet again, and I’ve kept my weight off despite the challenging environment we live in with an abundance of tricky marketing, food lies and addictive food additives. The best diet is real food to nourish your body paired with a mindful and balanced approach to healthy eating.
So this summer, I’m urging everyone to let go of the chokehold of diet culture and allow themselves the freedom to enjoy the heat, the beach, and all the rest. Make a commitment that it’s no longer about avoiding or restricting but just about adding in more of the good stuff.
GET EVEN HEALTHIER!
Curious about how health coaching can help you make your own healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with me today——or pass this offer on to someone you care about!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I learned about more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, I will help you create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.
Learn more about my training and my unique approach to health coaching www.colleenhammann.com.
By: Colleen Hammann
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach
(5 min read)
How Health Coaches Can Help Clients Ditch the Diet Mentality
5 Tips to Help You Ditch The Diet Culture
Summer may still be a month away, but as the weather heats up many of us feel the pressure to slim down. Every year we’re flooded with messages about “bikini bodies”, crash diets designed to get our figures “ready” for the season.
As difficult as it may be I challenge my clients to make the conscious choice to subscribe to the school of thought that promotes healthy choices - be it food or lifestyle - for their inherent benefits, all year long - meaning intentionally and mindfully caring for, nourishing, and moving my body 365 days a year because I want to and because it feels good.
Rather than thinking of diet and exercise as a short term quick fix, I think of them as tools in my self care kit that I have all year long. Instead of worrying about how my body looks from May to September, I focus on how I want to feel and adopt healthy habits that allow me to feel confident throughout the year.
Here are 5 Tips to help you ditch the diet culture and get you focusing on mindfully and intentionally caring for your body 365 days of the year.
1. Practice Mindful & Intuitive Eating
DO YOU FEEL SHAMEFUL WHEN EATING FOODS YOUR ENJOY?
So often we eat mindlessly. We eat while working, watching TV or scrolling through social media, or when we’re on the run. The pleasure of eating lies in slowing down and fully experiencing all the elements of food.
When we eat for hunger, we are better able to enjoy our meal. And when we choose to indulge, we can do that mindfully as well. Eating slowly and consciously allows you to savor your food. Mindful eating is also an act of self-care. When you nourish your body with what is needed, you are less likely to feel heavy, bloated, and lethargic after you eat. Plus, you are less likely to gain weight.
Knowing what is driving your hunger allows for you to be aware of why you need to eat. Maybe you are feeling lonely and really just need to pick up the phone and call a friend. Maybe you are feeling stressed and would benefit from a walk outdoors or an activity that increases your heart rate. Or maybe you are just tried and need to go to sleep. Having awareness allows you to understand what you are truly hungry for in that moment.
2. Eat to Nourish Your Body to Feel Good -
Do you categorize foods as clean, good or bad?
Food shouldn’t be about deprivation or giving up your favorite foods. It’s about enjoying what you love but using ingredients of higher quality that benefit your overall health.
Using food for Energy, Vitality, and Nourishment is what food is meant for.
What you eat changes everything. It can make a powerful difference in your life - what we eat effects everything from our skin’s appearance to our immunity to our memory and learning ability to preventing diseases to reversing the progression of other illnesses to simply feeling better overall - at any age. It shouldn’t be an all or nothing approach as diets tend to promote. Food should be about the individual, not about the diet theory.
Food does much more than just satisfy our hunger. It provides the fuel our bodies need for thinking, moving, growing, repairing and living. Our diet doesn’t just affect weight; it also affects nearly every physical process.
There are so many widespread misconceptions out there about food. For one the, “calorie in, calorie out” theory for weight loss and health is probably one of the most established . Many, if not most, people who decide to embark on a weight loss regimen begin to count calories to ensure they take in fewer calories than they burn. But the problem with the “you can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise it off” theory is that all calories are not created equal. It’s not only the quantity but the quality of the calories that count when it comes to weight loss and overall health. In other words, you should be more concerned with the ingredients you’re eating than the calorie count on the nutrition facts panel.
3. Bring joyful Movement into your life -
Do you exercise to compensate for the foods you eat?
I admit that I have had a complicated relationship with exercise in the past. I used to exercise to shrink my body or change its composition. I believed the toxic “no pain no gain” narrative and that I had to suffer to get results.
Over the past several years, I’ve shifted my focus towards mindful and joyful movement. I partake in activities that I enjoy doing with a mix of things like walking, barre, yoga, weight lifting and HIIT Training and I don’t push myself past my limits. Consistency is key but can be a struggle with little kids around, except for walking as I’ve built it into my family routine. So, when it comes to movement, choose something you enjoy enough to do consistently, that fits
into your life.
Accountability is also a factor in being consistent with your workouts. Having a gym buddy or working with a health coach who keeps you accountable to your commitments help to keep you on track and getting the movement in.
4. Stop Letting Your Tastebuds get Hijacked
Ever wonder why you cant stop eating a processed food when you didn’t plan on finishing it?
One of the biggest misconceptions about food sold in grocery stores is that it’s all safe to eat. Product labels are deceiving, hiding risky chemicals that contaminate our food and designed to be addictive and eat more than we should. You ever wonder why you can eat an entire bag of chips but would never attempt to eat 2- 3 apples in a row. Well, its not your fault. Chances are the product is heavily processed and contains additives and chemicals to preserve its shelf life.
One of the first things you should do is start looking at the foods you are eating and trusting. Many things you eat are designed to make you come back for more and have a hard time quitting. There are so many ingredients used in foods that are marketed as diet friendly and give off the appearance as healthy diet foods. We are easily fooled by deceptive marketing and packaging. From sports drinks to protein bars to popular health supplements that are filled with refined sugars like white sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sugars. But the good news is you CAN escape the spiral. All you have to do is eat real food!
Focus on ingredients, not the calories. Start with small steps adding real whole foods into your meals eventually you will crowd out the other stuff. Get back to cooking at home where you control what is going in your body. With the warmer months ahead I love to take advantage of the vitamin-rich, nourishing fruits and veggies at my local farmers market. Eating plenty of raw fruits and veggies from leafy greens to antioxidant rich berries- it’s a great way to potentially inspire you to try some new produce and get you excited about adding in these foods into your diet.
Once you get off the roller coaster ride of the pull to eat heavily processed foods you will never want to go back again.
5. Ask for Help & Seek Support
GET EVEN HEALTHIER!
Curious about how health coaching can help you make your own healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with me today——or pass this offer on to someone you care about!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I learned about more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, I will help you create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.
Learn more about my training and my unique approach to health coaching www.colleenhammann.com.
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