Diet culture, intuitive eating, intermittent fasting. If 2019 has been the year of anything, it’s been the year of body buzzwords. There is a call to reject diet culture, adopt intuitive eating and nothing in-between. It’s left a lot of people confused because no-one ever says anything concrete about HOW to go from eating creamy pasta, wine and chocolate 7 times a week to knowing your body needs only two forks of rice and stopping there. So while we wait for the trend to shift from the should to the how, let’s think about stuff we can do to fool ourselves into almost being there.
Always front load your day with something healthy- have the smoothie for breakfast. Poach some eggs. Whatever the healthiest thing is in your house, eat it. At least, if it all goes downhill from there, you can look back at breakfast and remember that you already ate all 5 of your 5 a day in that one smoothie.
Stop buying junk food for later- when you’re out, eat the dessert, have the cocktail but don’t pack anything. When you go to Hans & Rene, order only what you can have at that exact moment, don’t order anything “for later”. You may feel out of control of your current decisions, but there’s no need to also plan for bad future decisions.
Buy the smaller version always - when chocolate or plantain chips find their way into your basket in the grocery store, buy the smallest version. The mini chocolate bars, the smaller bags of crisps, the 33cl Diet Coke, because you know that when you open that bag, you’re going to want to keep going.
Look at the menu online- when you’re eating out, look at the menu online (as much as possible, because in Lagos, you can’t always find it) and decide what to order beforehand. Give yourself a few options. You may or may not stick to it at the actual restaurant, but more times than not, it will stop you from feeling overwhelmed and over-ordering.
Keep a small bottle of water in your line of sight at all times- you’re more likely to reach for it and with water, it’s always about trying
Stop eating food you don’t like- seriously- if you love salad drenched in dressing, drench it and eat the salad- don’t force yourself to do the opposite and only eat it. I find it weird that there’s so much more policing of the “right” way to do healthy than the actual unhealthy food. Your body still gets vegetables either way.
Start dealing with any emotional issues related to eating - not everyone that eats a lot is an emotional eater, but if you are, dealing with the emotions is necessary and being honest with yourself is a start.
I was just as tired of all the “do this diet” talk as I am of the “stop diet culture, love your body, eat intuitively”. We are all just trying out best okay?