Permission to Ditch the Nutrition Rules
I want you to give yourself full permission to ditch the diet & nutrition rules. On my journey to liberated eating, I realized I wouldn’t get there if I kept holding onto all my internalized dieting thoughts and beliefs. So I needed to get the guts to question these beliefs around nutrition and redefine them for myself.
If you want to ditch the all-or-nothing mentality, it means you’re going to have to do some serious personal belief work. It will require you to use new and different language around food and eating, while breaking the desire to be ‘perfect.’
See when I first started on my health and fitness journey years ago, my main goal was weight loss. It was in the era of skinny girls for the win, and unless you’re slim as can be and have visible abs, you’re nothing. So if you asked me how to eat for weight loss I would have listed out all the rules I was following like “you mustn't eat after 7pm” “don’t eat any sugar” “skip breakfast and just have coffee” “don’t eat more than 1200 calories” “eat low carb” ”must do fasted cardio in the morning” “HIIT is the only way to lose weight” “have a protein shake right after workout or else I’ll lose all the gains'' etc etc etc.
Sound familiar?
These are just a few of the kinds of rules that we’ve all been influenced to believe. So many rules on rules on RULES.
This is actually a big part of why I decided to get my certification in coaching and nutrition so that I could free myself of all this frustration and burn out.
When you follow these rules you think it’s helping you and maybe you see some progress but then if you trip up on them, or things don’t go according to plan (because let’s be real - when do things ever go according to plan!?). The nature of these rules is that you end up feeling “bad” or “wrong” or a “failure” when you ‘break’ them. It creates this feeling and cycle of not being good enough and that we may as well not even bother if we can’t do things perfectly. It stresses you out, frustrates you, leaves you feeling overwhelmed, and then ultimately defeated. It sucks going through your day feeling like you’re barely keeping your head above water trying to follow all these rules while your everyday life keeps throwing wrenches in your plan. It’s no way to live constantly in a state of stress and overwhelm.
So this is why I want you to know this: you CAN get results by creating your own guidelines that are based on your own preferences, lifestyle, and needs, all while actually finding a way to eat that you actually enjoy and like.
Imagine that!
Can you be guaranteed to drop to 10-15% body fat? No.
But in all honesty do you really want that? Are you a bikini or figure competitor? No? Then you don’t really need to get that low….
But that’s also not the goal of mindful eating. The goal is to feel healthy, strong, and confident in your choices and body, not to obsess or be miserable with your eating and exercise.
In order to achieve that, you have to be able to ditch some of those old rules and beliefs that are no longer serving you. As a matter of fact, just stop collecting rules altogether. Can you do that? Just stop that now.
You’re going to question yourself, you’re going to feel like it’s “wrong” but that’s the whole point!
I can vividly remember when I first started to ditch my old beliefs I would ask myself if this was okay, or if it was allowed. Allowed?! Allowed by who?! Okay for who?! Who defined these things? Who told you to believe these things? And why do you internalize it?
The more you work on leaving these old rules and beliefs behind, the more you will realize that your body and you can be trusted.
When I did it, I didn’t all of a sudden gain 40lbs, lose all my muscle, give up on exercise altogether, or eat only fast food.
The key here is just putting in the reps, and building awareness. Awareness around what makes you feel good, and energized, what makes you feel sluggish or tired. What gives you life and energy for the day and what do you dread or avoid? What gets you excited?
If you constantly try to follow 20 rules perfectly, you’ll be successful with none of them. But if you practice becoming aware of your personal preferences, understand your unique body, and make decisions based on what you want, need, or choose… things will start to feel more effortless.
Pick and choose your nutrition battles. Not everything needs to be a battle. Not everything has to be done perfectly either.
Implement a few nutrition non-negotiables. These are things I have my clients choose for themselves, and they are like your ‘Big Rocks’. If you don't do anything else, these are the 3 things you ensure to get in because they have the biggest impact on your health and goals. The rest? You just do your best.
Some of my favourite nutrition non-negotiables are:
-get in 80oz of water.
-get protein at each meal (doesn’t matter how much, just something)
-get 2 servings of veggies
Now you can be completely personalized to your life and preferences. These are my big rocks, but they are also what I find most people can benefit from as well. Maybe you start with protein at 2 meals. Or start with 60oz of water if you’re barely getting 40oz in a day. Then build up to that higher number. Maybe you don’t get any veggies in the day so you start with at least 1 serving of veg, then 2, then 3 (this takes lots of time, patience, and consistency so don’t beat yourself up over it!).
The people who have the best relationship with food, eating and exercise are the ones who find a way to make it work for them, rather than against. So stop blindly following food rules from magazines, media, documentaries, or your favourite influencer.
It’s time to create your own guidelines around eating that actually are in line with how you want to feel and that work with your unique lifestyle, body, and needs.
