Avoid Restrictive Diets And Prefer Healthy Habits

Restrictive Diets, Yes or No? That’s a question many people ask. Are you a person who starts a diet only to feel guilty and frustrated? And don’t you really enjoy it either?

Then today we have some information for you that will help you better understand the background to this diet culture. We will also explain how you can distinguish the famous “miracle diets” from a healthy lifestyle. Refrain from restrictive diets in the future and take care of yourself more. These are the keys to breaking this vicious cycle.

What is the diet culture?

The word “diet” originally comes from the Greek. The Greeks used it to refer to “the foods that a person regularly consumes”.

Over the years this word has acquired many other meanings. It became a concept related not only to diet but also to a lifestyle. Someone who is increasingly moving away from a healthy lifestyle. In addition, this diet lifestyle also has negative effects on your physical and mental health.

It is very easy to see how the word “diet” can affect your emotional state. At some point its meaning became polarized. When you are on a diet, you are restricting yourself. And if you’re not on a diet, you can eat whatever you want.

This polarity imposed by the media and diet culture can have a very negative impact on your emotions and quality of life. It can even prevent you from changing your eating habits and adopting good eating habits and a healthy lifestyle. But why is this happening?

Self-care is much more than healthy eating habits

Taking care of yourself is not just about eating healthy. Self-care also includes integrity and harmony. In addition, it is impossible to see physical and emotional aspects as separate from each other. This applies to both your general life and changing your eating habits.

For example, think of an overweight person who wants to shed a few pounds. These people instinctively know that the first thing to do is to limit their food intake. This is because they think the less they eat, the faster they will achieve their goal. However, restrictive diets are very detrimental to your health because these diets neglect some important aspects, such as your emotions.

Studies have shown that people are far better off when they also consider psychological elements. These should be equally important in a diet. Much more than following a strict eating plan.

Therefore, mixed programs produce better results. And not only with regard to self-esteem, but also with regard to the perception of body image and self-efficacy. In addition, these programs also improve motivation and this makes it easier for people to continue this process of change.

Restrictive Diets: What Characterizes Them?

First of all, get rid of the mistaken belief that restrictive diets are necessary to lose weight. To do this, you need to understand how diet culture works and what negative thoughts and emotions it causes. What are the characteristics of this diet mentality? Below we name the most important ones:

• First of all, there is always a start date and an end date.
• It is also about restricting and avoiding the consumption of certain foods, which leads to anxiety and negative feelings such as guilt and frustration.
• In addition, such diets are incompatible with social events. Man is a social being. Therefore, any eating plan that does not fit in with your social life is not likely to be followed by long periods of time.
• Furthermore, these diets result in rapid weight loss. However, you don’t lose body fat, you lose muscle mass.
• Diet works in the short term.
• Often there is a yo-yo effect after the end of the cure.
• The only indicator of progress is body weight.
• Ultimately, such diets often lead to negative feelings and decreased self-esteem. This is because the goal of achieving a certain weight in a short period of time is not achievable.

Avoid restrictive diets and prefer healthy habits!

The concept of health no longer only includes the absence of illness, but encompasses a holistic state of wellbeing on the physical and psychological level. So we want to give you another definition of “healthy habits”. These are the patterns of behavior that you have learned and repeat over time that have a positive effect on your health.

The main features of healthy eating habits are as follows:

• They are based on realistic goals that make small successes observable and assessable.

• In addition, healthy eating habits involve gradual changes in diet and lifestyle.
• In addition, they cause progressive weight loss. However, this is not the goal, but the consequence of these habits.
• They come from learning improved criteria for your food choices.
• In addition, healthy habits help you not only achieve your health goals, but also maintain them.
• Because they are appropriate on both a physical and psychological level, your wellbeing improves.
• Furthermore, they do not cause guilt or frustration.
• And ultimately, they are compatible with your social life too.

Final remarks

You now know the main differences between dieting culture and changing your eating habits. However, doubts often arise about how quickly and immediately these changes will take effect. However, keep in mind that changing habits takes time. Before you decide to go on restrictive diets again, think about how many years you have been in this vicious cycle.

Is it possible that you can take care of yourself if all you do is focus on what you see? Will it affect your self-esteem if you punish yourself with additional diets that you only follow for a limited time? The answer to these questions is clear: no, at least not in a healthy way.

But how about if you changed your focus instead? When do you start investing in something else? For example, by learning to take care of yourself without having to follow restrictive diets?