How to Love Your Body: The Official UNdiet Online Podcast

This week’s episode is brought to you by our free masterclass we are hosting, TODAY Tuesday November 12th at 5:30 pm pacific and Thursday November 14th at 5:30 pm pacific - its called:

“The 3 Ingredients you need to become an intuitive eater and find wellness without the obsession (even if you still want to lose weight)” you can grab your free spot at bit.ly/undietmasterclass for which ever time is most convenient. 

 

We will be sharing:

 

The 3 ingredients who must combine in order to find the balance in this work. 

We will be going over what they are and how to begin implementing them into your life.

At the end of the masterclass we will also be sharing more details about The UnDiet Academy (PLUS some bonuses for those who come on live).

 

Now back to today’s episode:

You’ve probably heard many people in the diet industry start talking about “the healthy holidays” and “how not to splurge during the holidays” and “Holiday workout challenge” and all the things that make you fear the holidays and all the food etc.

So we are your friendly UnDiet coaches who are here to ease your mind and share with you why there is no need to panic! 

YES you can be an Intuitive Eater/ UnDieter through the Holidays without feeling guilty and shamed for not jumping on the Healthy Holiday Diet Challenge Bandwagon. 

There is no need for that and if anything it will be more harmful to you than helpful - so spare yourself the fear mongering diet culture and jump on board with us.

Where you can live your life, enjoy the holidays, and feel really good about it!!! 

Here’s 5 helpful suggestions we’d like to share with you: 

1. The more you allow - the less bingeing (or not at all!)  The second you go into a holiday party already trying to control what you should eat and what to eat and what not to eat you are setting yourself for an all out free for all / maybe even binge. The more you can breathe and keep telling yourself you can literally eat WHATEVER you want at whatever party you go to - the intuition sticks by your side. Since you know you can have it all, it doesn’t seem so scarce. There is an abundant mindset and you know that if you want to eat more later or tomorrow you can have it, so you don’t need to eat all that pie you never get to eat all year today because you can take some leftovers home. AND if you are saying, but seriously I never get this pie/ dessert any time of the year i can’t control myself around it - get the dang recipe and make it available to you during the year so it doesn’t seem so special.  Most things you can recreate and yeah maybe it’s a nostalgic thing that you mom makes or grandma makes etc. But would it be sooooo bad if ya just ate more of what you wanted because it just tastes so good and that’s the choice you make? It’s okay to choose to eat more than feels good because it tastes good. That’s a part of normal eating! SO ALLOW! 

 

2. You are worth it Guide Use this guideline to help tune in to what you ACTUALLY want and what ACTUALLY tastes good. At holiday parties there could be like 20 things to put on your plate and your eyes may be thinking I WANT TO TRY IT ALL! And maybe you do and that’s great. Whatever looks good to you and what will feel good - put some on your plate. Remember you can ALWAYS go back for more. When you start to eat the things - notice what tastes amazing to you and what doesn’t taste as amazing.

You don’t have to finish something on your plate that actually doesn’t taste as great as you thought - stick to the foods that seem really worth it to you. The ones that melt in your mouth, that makes you say WOW.

This will help you stick to the foods that you really enjoy and pass on the food that you can go without. You don’t have to eat every single thing just because it’s there. Remember, you are worth it to eat the best of the best if it’s available :) Do the same with the dessert table! 

 

AND this is not a rule - want to eat all the things regardless of how good it is, that's up to yo

This week on How to Love Your Body we are talking about weight loss and the expectations we have from it.

 

Before we begin we are THRILLED to share with you a free masterclass we are hosting Tuesday November 12th at 5:30 pm pacific and Thursday November 14th at 5:30 pm pacific called “ The 3 Ingredients you need to become an intuitive eater and find wellness without the obsession (even if you still want to lose weight),” you can grab your free spot at bit.ly/undietmasterclass for which ever time is most convenient. 

 

We will be sharing:

 

 

The 3 ingredients you must combine in order to find the balance in this work. 

We will be going over what they are and how to begin implementing them into your life.

At the end of the masterclass we will also be sharing more details about The UnDiet Academy at the end of the class (PLUS some bonuses for those who come on live).

 

You can grab your spot at bit.ly/undietmasterclass

Now let’s dive into today’s episode:

The reason we have these high expectations of weight loss is that the world is CONSTANTLY telling us that if we lose weight life will be better, we will be more loved, we will belong, we will be healthier, have more energy, live longer and be content….. So yeah, we want a lot to happen when we lose weight, how could we not?

 

This past week in our public Facebook group called Intuitive Eating and Body Love support, we posted a question and asked “Do you have a few sentences you can share about losing weight and it wasn't all you thought it would be?”, so we could get some insights for this episode.

 

We expected to get a couple responses but we didn’t, we received, 86 women’s stories about their experience after losing weight and it really solidified the truth that we are expecting too much from weight loss.

 

The reason this is a problem is BECAUSE we are expecting it to be life changing, we are sacrificing WAY too much to try to make it happen.

 

 

Physical and mental health

Social lives

Getting stuck in the cycle

Causes ourselves so much anguish and pain when we are constantly falling off the wagon.

 

…

 

We’d like to share a few people’s stories with you before we get any further into today’s topic…

 

No matter how much I lost, no matter how much smaller I got...it was NEVER enough.

 

(And 4 people responded “me too”.)

 

 

I thought things would be ok, that I would feel great and satisfied when I got to my goal weight. When I got there, at that weight I wondered what it would feel like to lose 5 more. Would that bring me the joy and satisfaction? I realized there was just no end point.

 

 

 

The joy of weight loss was like a high that I quickly came down from. Then I wanted MORE. There was always something to fix and I ended up feeling horrible in the end.

 

 

 

Losing weight was never over. It always had to be more so no part of me enjoyed it. As it continued I became more isolated, depressed and obsessed.

 

 

 

I lost weight and life was the exact same. Literally nothing changed besides the number on the scale. I still had all the same problems and struggles.

 

 

And there are over 80 more comments with almost this exact same sentiment.

 

We work so hard towards something where the finish line is always moving AND if we do get there it doesn’t feel much different than when we started.

 

So why do we kill ourselves to lose weight? Many of us have spent 10-30 or 40 years in the diet cycle, often just losing and gaining the same pounds…

 

If you’ve been on the hunt for weight loss most of your life, we’d like you to ask yourself some of these questions.

 

And to get the questions and actually work them out, you can get your worksheet at thebodylovesociety.com/79

 

What will be different PHYSICALLY if you lost the weight you want to lose?

Here’s an example: I had this thought once when I was sitting at home having a bad body image moment. I asked myself, what would ACTUALLY be different right now if I was thinner….. My baby would still be crying, my husband w

This week on how to love your body we are talking about the two key ingredients that make UnDieting work and help you find balance with food.

But before we dive into that we are here to announce a really exciting giveaway.

We will be giving away a spot in the UnDiet academy this fall to one lucky winner.

To enter all you have to do is rate and review the podcast on itunes, unfortunately only those in Canada and the US are eligible solely because we cannot see reviews from other countries.

To do this just scroll to the bottom of the page when listening to our podcast on itunes, click the 5 stars to give a rating and then click where it says write a review and leave a couple sentences about the podcast.

Once you’ve done that you are officially entered! We will be choosing the winner on Friday November 1st so be sure to do the rate and review before then.

Thank you so much for helping the podcast AND entering to win the spot in the Academy!

So lets dive into today's episode - dont forget to grab this week’s worksheet at thebodylovesociety.com/78

People have different views on what intuitive eating and UnDieting is,  because there are 2 aspects that are vital to make it work but some people only see one side or the other and don’t combine them to create the balance and flow that undieting really is all about!

Ingredient 1: 

Some people think being an UnDieter means just allow all food.

Eat what you want, when you want it.

Period.

 

These people aren’t wrong. This is such an important part of this work - stopping the restrictions and realizing that food is truly abundant. 

But that’s not all it is!

With just this one ingredient you end up feeling pretty crappy, like now you’ve just stopped dieting, you gave up, who cares, just eat it all!

That isn't wellness without the obsession, that's not freedom and it isn't something you’re going to want to live in for the rest of your life - and we are all about sustainability. 

You’re either dieting or not dieting. 

 

Ingredient 2: Some people think being an UnDieter is just about listening to your body

AKA Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.

These people think that your body now rules you, you MUST eat when you are hungry and you must stop when you are full (but not too full god forbid).

This is the side that falls back into it just being another diet, just different new rules they need to follow.

Those who believe that listening to your body is everything end up:

Stressing about doing intuitive eating “right”

Worry when they don't know exactly what they want to eat

Think things like, well I don't really NEED that cookie

Feel guilty for getting too full

This isn’t freedom either - it sounds just as stressful as dieting in my opinion.

It might be honoring your body but without the mindset shifts of allowing and abundance, it is much too rigid and not what most of you are going for.

So what happens when we combine these two ingredients :

Here are some things that can happen when you combine the MINDSET of abundance and allowing food with the ACTION of listening to your body  :

MINDSET: I can eat this food whenever I want, I literally can have this pie for breakfast if I want or come get some in the middle of the night 

ACTION: so it’s no loss to stop eating now that I’m full, I can just eat more later.

RESULT: You now can enjoy the pie and stop when you feel done without feeling restricted or like you SHOULD stop.

MINDSET: I can eat any cookies I want …. Hmm this one looks pretty good

ACTION: you take a bite and realize it doesn’t taste that great so you throw the rest out..

RESULT: You don’t feel like you SHOULDNT eat the cookie, you just genuinely think you can do better and your body isn’t loving it but you COULD eat it if you want. 

(Be honest when you were dieting you definitely ate some gross things because it was the only dessert around and you had to start your diet again tomorrow so this was your last chance!)

MINDSET: I’m allowed to order whatever I want w

This week on How to Love Your Body we will be discussing the #1 fear and concern on this journey - fear of weight gain and wanting to lose weight.

Don’t forget to grab your worksheet - you can get it at thebodylovesociety.com/77

 

We have done some polling lately on the one thing holding you back from fulling embarking on your UnDieting journey and 100% of people said they are afraid of gaining weight or they still want to lose weight

AND we get it…

In this work we’re supposed to “not care at all” about weight anymore, but it just isn’t that simple, we still live in a world that cares about weight and after focusing on weight loss for so many years it can feel scary to stop FOCUSING ON IT.

And here’s what we’re really talking about when we talk about weight in Intuitive Eating and UnDieting, it’s about redirecting your FOCUS away from the way your body looks and towards the way your body feels.

In this episode we will go over WHY we don’t focus on weight loss, the effects of focusing on weight loss, and what you can do instead to find a sustainable life of wellness without the obsession.

 

NUMBER 1:

The reason we encourage people to let go of the focus on weight is because you technically cannot be PURSUING weight loss and be intuitive and those who follow our work are aiming to become intuitive eaters.

The reason this is, is because when you PURSUE weight loss you will second guess your body’s signals, do I REALLY need that cookie? And soon enough you are restricting and the cycle starts all over again.

But here’s the thing - letting go of the focus on weight loss doesn’t dictate what will happen with your body - it doesn’t mean weight loss will never happen and it doesnt mean it will happen. When you listen to your body there are 3 options, you may lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same, but the one guarantee is that you will find wellness, can prioritize feeling good and can be active, nourished and living an enjoyable and sustainable lifestyle. 

 

NUMBER 2:

Let’s look at the focus on weight loss a little more closely. 

When you were focused on weight loss for all those years, did it work? DId you lose weight and keep it off?

We did a poll on our instagram asking you about this and 85% of you said no.

So what about the other 15%? Dieting worked for them? Why?? That’s not fair…

It didn’t - we asked this group of people what it takes to maintain that weight loss and every answer included the words: obsession, exhausted etc…

So what results did focusing on weight loss give you?

That is something to reflect on, the good and the bad…. You can do this on this week’s worksheet at thebodylovesociety.com/77

Some things that the focus of weight loss may have given you -- food preoccupation, binge eating, body obsession….

So what can I do instead if I stop focusing/ pursuing weight loss?

Honor your body and take amazing care of it without it being about weight all the dang time!

Wellness without the obsession!

Focusing on feeling good in your body - that might mean moving your body, eating a wide variety of foods, listening to your body (this is also different from listening to your tastebuds, a topic for another episode) , saying yes to food when it sounds good, saying no to food when you dont feel like, really being your own boss when it comes to your wellness.

We realize this may mean you’re not in the smallest body you’ve ever been in, but it can lead you to a place of physical and mental stability, no more cycling, yo yoing weight or the constant starting over.

So what do you want?

To cycle through the weight focus mess again and again and again or to find freedom, find balanced and enjoyable wellness and have it last a lifetime?

It really is time to decide.

So to dive deeper into this be sure to grab your worksheet at thebodylovesociety.com/77 and of course add yourself to The UnDiet Academy waitlist if you think you might be ready next month to really make this change in your life!

Doors open November 12th!

Lov

This week on How to Love Your Body we will be tackling the complete UnDiet process so you know what to expect the journey to look like.

There are 5 phases of the UnDiet process - the first you are likely well aware of and most of you are probably swimming around in it and the following 4 phases might sound familiar but their sequence and details are vital to getting to a place that is intuitive, free from restricting and dieting completely but still feels good - wellness without the obsession.

Next week we will be tackling the #1 fear on this journey - and that is weight gain or not losing weight… but for now we will be demonstrating the phases of the undiet process and these phases are HOW you can find balance in the end.

There is a worksheet that goes with this episode so you can track the 5 phases and take notes on where you are and what your next steps might be. You can grab this at thebodylovesociety.com/76

 

Phase 1: The Initial Exit 

 

It looks like this -

First you’re swirling around the diet cycle for years - restrict/binge, all or nothing thinking, on WW or meal plans, keto or “eating clean”...

And then there does come a day when you JUST CANNOT DO THIS ANYMORE!

Perhaps hearing about intuitive eating or the non diet approach gets you to officially quit or you stop because you just can’t do it anymore and then begin looking into things and discover intuitive eating and body positivity….

Okay great so you’re officially no longer on a diet, technically, and then comes…. The information overload..

You listen to 5 different intuitive eating/ body positive podcasts, you’ve read all the major books, you’re in 3 different IE facebook groups, you’re following a ton of body positive instagram accounts…

Okay here you are - you know some stuff, a lot of stuff….

But it’s just that… knowledge… and it hasn’t converted to food freedom, body love or embodying intuitive eating..

But this is the beginning and it's so vital.

You’ve exited the diets (technically) and now you know what makes sense and what you want for yourself… to be at peace with food, for eating to be easy, to stop binge eating, to feel good and have wellness without the obsession.

This leads us into Phase 2: The Diet Mentality Detox

You may have done cleanses in the past but this one is different (and the only one that will actually work).

The way we think in a diet is what makes exiting the cycle hard - it’s why we can’t just decide to stop dieting and magically be balanced and intuitive once we quit.

So what needs to happen here before we move forward?

Here are the changes that need to occur:

 

-  Diet talk needs to transform to UnDiet talk (language, thoughts and beliefs need to shift)

-  Getting rid of diet triggers - clearing your space

- focus shifts from how to look to how you feel

- releasing all or nothing thinking and the other most common dieting mindsets

This phase results in:

Stop thinking about food all day

Diet rules fade away

Clearer mind instead of the constant diet chatter

Phase 3: The Inner Self Work 

Once we begin thinking differently there is another layer that needs to be added -- deeper work involving:

Self worth

Self acceptance

Self love

A part of this is body acceptance and we of course love the term body love but it’s often misconstrued.

We don’t mean you now need to love your body and the way it looks all the time…

Honestly, the way your body looks is the least interesting thing about you.

WHO you are is what is interesting and it’s what we want to focus on.

Finding worth in ourselves APART from our bodies (because whether you lose weight, gain weight or stay the same on this journey, you’re going to want to be okay regardless. 

Self acceptance does not mean - face it lady, you’ll be this way forever, get over it.

What it does mean is -- Hi, you are you in this moment, and you’re in the only body you’ll ever have so instead of fighting against reality, let’s work with what we got! (This skill will allow you to embody intuitive e

Welcome to How to Love Your Body, this is Jenna and Lauren, your UnDiet and Body Love Coaches.

Today we are going to be talking about why trying to heal the relationship with food and your body may be a lot harder when you’re going at it alone.

You can grab your worksheet here - https://theundiet.lpages.co/support-worksheet/

Of course you are an amazing and capable woman who CAN achieve being an UnDieter and finding freedom from food and there is no shame in getting support in what most find a challenging process. 

You may have been struggling with this from 10-30 years - no wonder you can’t just heal with the snap of your fingers … but we are here to tell you that this is absolutely possible and getting support in this area is one of the best things you can do to honor yourself. 

You may be in one of these 2 places….

You’ve been at this a long time and it still feels far away. No matter how many podcasts you listen to, how many books you read, how many body positive and intuitive eating instagram accounts you follow you still can’t seem to break through and be free from this…. You still may be Thinking it’ll work this time - but if you are doing it the same way you’ve always done, thinking things will change, is just another diet mentality. 

If it’s been years of trying to do this intuitive eating, body acceptance thing and you don’t see an end in sight, why not be open to getting support to get you there faster and have confidence that there is a way out and a new life out there full of freedom? 

Or 

Maybe you’ve just started this work and you’re very new to all of this - you’re excited and ready to dive into being an UnDieter. 

 

So how about instead of trudging through for a couple years, get support now to dive in strong and get to freedom faster, it’s been too much time wasted on obsessing over food !

What’s the value for you in getting support on your journey?

1. A safe space- A place to go when you have a rough day - we can talk you off the ledge. 

Halt the spiral. Always feel like you’re being “held”. No matter what day it is during the week, you know you have a safe portal to turn to with like minded women working on the same thing as you to reach out for support and guidance in whatever it is you may need. 

 

2. The brain that is keeping you from feeling free around food and your body isn’t going to be the brain (and only support system)  that gets you out of it. - getting another perspective/ support system is invaluable. Allow someone else to get in your brain and smooth out the kinds that may be keeping you stuck. 

 

3. You don’t know what you don’t know - allow someone to help you with the blocks. If there’s something that could be really helpful to your in your process with UnDieting - but you don’t even know what it could possibly be to help you- how can you make it through without someone opening your mind to new ideas and possibilities? Let some help you from the outside in! 

 

4. Asking for help can be hard- it’s okay to surrender to the process. This is a big one because a lot of people (especially women) think they need to put everyone else first. They sacrifice themselves for the sake of their kids or family or just makes excuses that they don’t deserve it or don’t need it. But the thing is- putting yourself first, prioritizing your needs, getting yourself to a healthy mental place would be such an advantage for your family and anyone in your life. You can also teach others around you that it’s okay to do nice things for yourself. You could inspire change in others. Getting help isn’t shameful- it’s courageous! You can’t pour from an empty cup which is why it’s important to fill your cup so you can overflow to others around you that count on you.  Allow yourself to get the guidance that you deserve to be free. This is for you first and foremost and also indirectly for the people you love. 

 

If you have gotten support before and you feel like it didn’t work- get curious to why you feel this

Restriction is damaging - yes always.

Before we get started you can download a worksheet that goes along with this episode at www.thebodylovesociety.com/74

This episode was inspired by one of our clients that posted in the current group of The UnDiet Academy. 

The topic was about restriction and if you could do it in a healthy way (for your mind, body, and soul)- someone out in the IG world was claiming that there is something called Restriction Love. 

While we respect the opinions of others - we also like to fiercely protect our community from very misinformed and harmful perspectives.

We want to let you know our 2 cents on restriction and what it really means - which also doesn’t mean you have to eat endless amounts of sugar just because you allow all food and don’t restrict yourself. 

 

Note: restriction doesnt just cover meal plans and counting calories. Even things like “Watching what you eat”, “just trying to eat healthier” … these ways of eating are restrictive. There is something that is trying to be avoided and limitations that you are trying to stay in.

As a dieter, when you deny yourself food that you want, it creates a very unhealthy relationship with food and your body. You are signaling to your body that it’s bad and wrong to eat certain food. Your body and mind is filled with guilt and shame. You feel confined, and there is no freedom of choice… 

There are so many nuances when it comes to restriction but one of the biggest downfalls of restriction is almost inevitable bingeing …. No matter what you do, if you do not stop restricting, the bingeing cannot end. 

What you resist persists. The more we restrict, the stronger the desire to eat all the food, the more obsession you feel, and the constant thoughts about food become louder and louder. 

There is no way you can come from a good place when talking about restriction.

Restriction doesn’t give you a choice, it doesn’t allow you to tune into your body, and it sure as heck doesn’t come from a place of love- it comes from a place of shame, guilt, and obeying the diet rules. 

You can’t trick yourself into restricting effectively - if you are restricting when you want something and there’s a hope of weight loss or some body change the cycle will never end. 

We want to share with you how you can live a life as an UnDieter, have freedom and be able to make empowered choices, and never restrict yourself.

And no it doesn’t mean that you are going to be eating endless amounts of sugar (OH THE HORROR!!).

Just so you know, restricting sugar (or any food) isn’t actually going to make you eat less of it - it actually does the opposite and most likely will make you eat more than you wanted in the first place and an even better chance that you’ll binge on it. 

So how the heck to feel good in your body, have wellness without the obsession, and not restrict food? 

So to start, if you are restricting (physically or mentally) the first thing to do is to stop that. We know it can feel scary but that’s the first step - it’s giving yourself unconditional permission to eat. There may be a phase where you are eating things that you haven’t in a while more often  and that’s okay!! Allow allow allow allow- we promise you will stop eating the thing- when you eat something with permission there’s an immediate shift in your brain and over time it gets easier and easier. It’s about EMPOWERED CHOICE - instead of seeing anything as restriction- it’s seeing it as a powerful choice that comes from your truth. If you know eating a lot of dairy can upset your stomach - it’s okay to choose to pass or choose to eat a smaller amount because it’s what honors your body. It’s not restricting dairy - it’s making a choice from the signals in your body with some logic - it’s about what is best for you and maybe that means eating a bunch of cheesy pizza even if that may upset your stomach. You are not right or wrong for the choices that you make. It all comes down to you and what makes you feel

Welcome to How to Love Your Body we are Lauren and Jenna your UnDieting coaches. On this podcast you will get weekly coaching that is straightforward and actually useable on your journey to food and body freedom. 

Today we are going to be talking about willpower, what it really is, why you think you don’t have enough of it and why it's all complete BS!

There is a worksheet that goes with today’s episode that you can find at thebodylovesociety.com/73.

This worksheet will help you work along with the episode so instead of just listening and nodding your head you can actually begin implementing some change in your mindset and your life.

So what is willpower really?

The most accurate definition we found was this: control of one's impulses and actions; determination; self-control.

So what kind of things do we use willpower (self control, controlling our impulses) for?

What dont we use it for?

We use willpower when:

We refrain from yelling at our children

We are kind to our partners when they forgot to pick up the milk AGAIN

When we focus at work instead of watching youtube videos which is what we actually want to do

When we say no to that cookie even thought we really really want it

When we dont get out of our car and chase after that fool that just cut you off 

When we dont tell our friend to quit her complaining already and just leave him…

Modern society takes A LOT of self control to function well in…

So when you use all that willpower up on your diet? Guess what happens….

There’s none left for life.

This is why we get snappy, more irritable and lash out more easily when we are restricting food, not only are we hangry but we have no willpower left in our reserves.

Because willpower is a depleting thing… not like a muscle where the more you use it, the stronger it gets. 

So -- do we want to be using all of our willpower (which inevitably runs out and leads to binge eating/ overdoing it on the weekends) or do we want to live a smooth and happy life overall and let the food take care of itself?

If willpower is a part of the way you eat… it CANNOT last a lifetime. It’s physically impossible.

So what do we do instead?

We drop the use of willpower all together.

So just eat everything and feel horrible and let myself go? Just give up??

No.

It’s just taking a completely different approach that will lead you to the wellness without the obsession that you’ve been looking for all along.

When you go through the entire Undieting process (more on the specifics of this coming in the next few episodes) - you find that you have an ebb and flow, a flexibility with food, you never had before.

No willpower needed. But there are choices to be made.

Once you’ve done the mindset work, and truly are embodying intuitive eating and the undiet way of living you just make the best choice for you in the present moment.

Does right now that cookie sound amazing and your body is on board with it? Awesome enjoy!

Are you stuffed from dinner and those stale cookies are staring at you from the counter? Well…you can choose to eat them or not, no right or wrong but maybe a stale, mediocre cookie when youre super full from dinner won’t feel too great.

It’s about having the tools and the mindset to be able to make choices in the moment that serve you well and leave you feeling empowered and NEVER restricted.

Since willpower is never used here, it never runs out. You can actually maintain this way of life for the rest of your life.

So how can you start letting go of the concept of willpower around food?

 

 

Recognize that you’ve always had “enough” willpower and forgive yourself for past (what you might see as) shortcomings.

 

 

In your worksheet you can dive more into this (writing it down will help you create this change a lot more effectively than just listening to this will)….

Identify some past instances where you beat yourself up for not having enough willpower and rewrite the story -- ACTUALLY it makes complete sense that every weekend after restrict

On this week's episode of How to Love Your Body we combined a very loaded question that we have gotten over the years, so we decided to put it all into one episode.

We are going to be addressing:

How to be an UnDieter even if you have food allergies that cause restrictions/ medical restrictions.

Also touch on a question that we get often “if it’s safe to go vegan/ vegetarian without spiraling back into dieting even though there are many restrictions.”

Lastly one of our listeners left us a review (thank you!) - and asked if we could touch on how to navigate food restrictions that are ethics based (and still follow IE/ UnDieting).

Here's a worksheet you can download- "How to make sure your medical/ethical restrictions don’t become a slippery slope back into the diet mentality!"- Get it here.

 

Before we begin- we are not licensed dietitians so anything we share is solely from our own experiences and opinions - Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and always, always, always consult a professional if your health is at risk or for any matter!

Let’s dive in… 1. How to be an UnDieter with Food Allergies

Food allergies or medical restrictions can make you feel restricted and that is the exact feeling we are trying to get away from when we UnDiet - so how do we marry the two together?

First off - the mindset of CHOOSING to not partake in these foods needs to be present, if we think about it like “we can’t”, or “the doctor told me not to”, it feels like a rule that wants to be broken!

When it’s your own empowered choice daily to forgo certain foods it feels a lot more peaceful, because in reality it is a choice. If a food makes you feel sick, you can choose to eat it and feel sick or you can choose to not eat it and not feel sick - honestly neither choice is right or wrong, but its your choice to make.

Even for Jenna as someone with celiac disease, she can choose to eat gluten and increase her chances greatly of getting colon cancer later in life (and other complications and damage) or she can choose not to eat it.

The other shift you need to make is to not associate your allergy with being “healthier” - in the diety sense of the term.

We spoke to a client who was wondering if gluten free bread etc was healthier than the regular stuff -- that’s not the point (because usually it's not, gluten free options are often more processed with more ingredients ). If you can’t eat gluten, you aren’t eating it to try to eat “healthier” options, you’re doing it because your body doesn't react to it well.

Let go of restriction = healthier and embrace EVERY alternative that you can

Can’t eat gluten? Go out and find this!

GF pizza

GF breads

GF cookies

GF cakes, pies, desserts

GF pasta

Just for-going these foods all together will feel very restrictive and make you feel like you’re on a diet all over again.

You can also do this with dairy free alternatives etc.

Go out and find the alternative that you enjoy!

2. Is it safe to go vegan/ vegetarian without spiraling back into dieting even though there are many restrictions.

What’s your intention behind being vegan/ vegetarian? Is there diet culture in your intention or is it your genuine authentic choice because it serves you best? Does it have to be so black and white?

We've seen someone say they are “predominantly plant based” meaning they mostly eat veggie and sometimes meat- also do you have to label yourself? Can you just eat the way that feels best to you and if that’s mostly plant based then great but if one day you have meat it doesn't need to mean anything?

The second you announce to the world or your family you are now a vegan / veggie - the pressure kicks in and you feel turmoil if you “cheat” around people you told you are vegan etc…

Of course you only know what’s best for you and what honors your body / mental health- we'd say if there isn’t a big reason (like religious/ ethic/ allergy) for being vegetarian/ vegan to not dive back into such a slippery slope of restriction (if

It’s not that they are bad - it’s that we think they're bad and we judge the heck out of them -- and they can most likely send us spiraling into body image thoughts with lots of shame and judgement. So we would like to share how to cope with them so they don’t take you down. Here's a worksheet you can download to help you with the process. http://bit.ly/tblsbadphotos

We have all had those days when you are going about your life- maybe scrolling on social media, you see a memory/ timeline share on Facebook, or you're going through your camera roll on your phone and BAM you see a photo that makes your stomach drop followed by lots of judgement and mean comments about yourself.

You zero in on the photo and pick apart every body part that you don’t like, every squish, everything… and that may lead you into a spiral of catastrophic thinking…

You start to think you need to lose weight, if you should start a diet, what you should stop eating, how you can start exercising more… it never ends.

So here’s how we want to help you cope.

 

We want to give you a 3 step process to use when dealing with bad photos

Acknowledge and validate Acknowledge & validate your feelings. It's okay to have the feelings you have.

Zoom Out Get a birds eye view of what is actually happening - noticing what's around you.

Gratitude What are you grateful for?

 

STEP 1: Acknowledge and validate your feelings- It's okay to initially have these feelings- it's what you do with these feelings that matter.

STEP 2: "Zoom Out" - What is actually happening in this photo other than what your body looks like? Are you having fun? Are you creating memories? Is there anything special about this day in this photo? What can you notice?

STEP 3: Snapping yourself out of body thoughts and into your present life can bring you from judgement to gratitude- What are 2-5 things that you feel grateful for when you shifted your body image thoughts and "Zoomed Out" instead?

 

A couple more helpful tips....

Stop the urges to dive deeper into catastrophic thinking. Wanting to go compare your old pictures to how you look now? STOP! Want to take a picture of yourself in those old jeans to see how they look? STOP!

Stopping yourself from getting deeper is very important. When you’re in a moment of freak out over a picture of yourself, step away and go do something else, diving in deeper will not help anything.

BE GENTLE AND COMPASSIONATE WITH YOURSELF.

Love, Lauren and Jenna