Let’s be honest. There may be days when the desire to return to dieting will be strong. That’s not because you’re doing anything wrong. It’s because unattainable cultural norms around body size, shape, weight, the aging process, etc. often leave us believing that we're lacking in some way.
It's not just the cultural norms that make us feel this way about our bodies either. The reality is that body image is not constant and often wavers based on external factors like your social media consumption/literacy, hunger, sleep, stress, career, loneliness, etc. so it’s natural that the temptation to diet may return on occasion.
Oftentimes the slightest things can impact how we feel about our bodies. For example, stepping on a scale at the doctor's office (which you're not obligated to do but may feel guilted to do), a change in blood work, or clothes shopping can trigger a tailspin of emotions including body shame.
And even though we now have access to many resources like podcasts, coaching, and body-positive content creators on social media to help shift our mindsets about these things, we all still get 'stuck in the suck' sometimes. This is natural so I think we all need to practice managing our expectations around this to help minimize shame spiraling.
One thing I often help my clients do when they're stuck in the suck is to remember and reflect on their 'why'.
So, when they're believing that being in a smaller, thinner, fitter, younger, etc. body is going to solve all their problems, we'll do some somatic work together (like hand over heart and belly, followed by some deep breaths) to help calm their nervous system.
Once they've come back to their body, I ask them to reflect on why they left dieting behind (my definition of dieting is: prioritizing your food choices and food quantities based on your size, shape, and weight instead of your body's physical and emotional needs) I may ask questions like:
What was your life like when you were dieting?
How did dieting make you feel?
How is your life different now that you're not chasing a number all the time?
What has giving up the thin ideal given you back?
If you are just starting out in your journey or feel guilty that you've been at this for some time but still get these urges often, please know that I'm not surprised because diet culture messaging is seductive!
If your self-care stores are low, your health is waning, you're in midlife, your pants are feeling tighter, or you're feeling vulnerable for any reason, you could easily be tempted to believe that your body, weight or age, etc. is the problem making dieting seem even more enticing.
Keeping these dieting memories green will help you circle back to the reality that dieting has an approximate long-term success rate of only 5%. That means that approximately 95% of the time, the weight will be regained which studies show may lead to more serious health concerns, increase body dissatisfaction, and increase mental health issues.
Please remember that while the way we feel about our bodies may naturally vacillate, our worth is constant.