What does ‘Dieting’ or ‘I am on a diet’ really mean?
The word dieting itself carries a negative connotation with it. Our mind perceives it as a restriction; resistance to its desires.
Another problem with the word ‘dieting’ is that it is many times taken as a short term commitment. Something that one wants to try to lose few pounds in a set period of time.
We live in a culture of instant gratification. However, in this futile attempt to get short term results we lose the long term perspective.
When on a diet we start living life in numbers. We become a slave to our scale. We forget that our weight is not just a number but it is a measure of how we feel, how we live; that it is a measure of our relationship with the food and our own self.
Our mind bounces between temptations and resistance while on a diet.
This tug of war that goes on between our desires and imposed restrictions tires out our will power. And in any little stressful condition, our mind wanders back to its old habits.
Remember in long term ‘What we resist persists'.
This yo- yo dieting not only messes up our metabolism but also brings the feeling of sheer guilt, weak will power and self- loathing. This weakened self-confidence along with the altered metabolism makes future weight loss attempts even harder.
So should we just eat whatever we like? Yes, that’s true. If we don’t enjoy what we eat we are never going to be satisfied and fulfilled.
And what joy it is to live if we cannot fulfill our desires?
The key to master our weight and health lies in changing our mindset to like what is good for us; for our health; for our body, mind, and spirit.
Remember if we want to change our life we must first change our mind !
How do we do it? It is not difficult if we understand the few basic principles of how our mind works.