Dieting is the Most Common Form of Disordered Eating
Dieting can be the MOST common form of disordered eating.
How can this be? Well, let’s first define what dieting is.
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and o*word.
So, basically dieting can be any way of eating that may or may not change your weight and may or may not prevent or treat disease but we pursue it like it’s the answer to all problems.
It could Weight Watchers..oh sorry, I mean WW (eye roll) or it could be “healthy” eating. Dieting can be following Whole 30…don’t be fooled.
Yes there is a correlation between nutrition and disease but poor nutrition is not causation of disease. That’s a blog post for another day (Can we say social determents of health?!)
The purpose of this post is to help you see the dangers of dieting. When it goes too far. When our pursuit to prevent disease or to change our weight can cross into disordered eating behaviors, known as Orthorexia
A few questions to ask yourself about your “clean” eating habits that may help you identify any disordered eating behaviors.
Does it interfere with your life? Are you skipping BBQ’s because there may not be ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available
Do you skip ice cream with your kids because you’re concerned about the ingredients?
Are you cutting out entire food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products)? I’m not talking about for allergy reasons. I’m talking about cutting out food/food groups because someone suggested they were “bad”.
Do you feel guilt after enjoying not deemed “healthy”?
Do you feel like you have to compensate if you over indulged?
Do you use exercise to “earn” or “burn” calories?
Do you spend hours thinking and planning your food for the day? Im not talking about basic meal planning and prepping for convienece. This is more about knowing every macro in each meal and snack.
Is it hard to eat a food without knowing the ingredients or reading the food label?
Do you experience some body image concerns?
Do you live and breath by “healthy eating” accounts on IG and TikTok?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you might want to take a step back and re-assess your eating habits. There’s can be a fine line between “clean” or healthy eating and Orthorexia.
Eating shouldn’t be stressful nor should you feel guilty for eating.
Let’s work to find a way of eating that supports your life that includes all foods/food groups (except if you have a food allergy), fosters a positive relationship with food and body, helps build trust in your hunger/fullness cues and honors your overall mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Are you ready to dive deeper into your relationship with food?
CLICK button below to learn more about The Nourished Academy
and grab your FREE No Food Rules workbook HERE
