How I Recognized Diet Mentality in My Life
Can you look back and pinpoint a specific moment when you realized that something has to give in life? I distinctly remember the moment when I knew I could no longer hold on to diet mentality and function in the new season of my life…
Striving for the Perfect Diet
As a dietitian student and then a new RD, I ate what I considered a healthy diet and cooked for myself based on those parameters. I was surrounded by diet culture themes in my nutrition classes and rigid meal plans in my early career that made me feel I needed to eat a certain way. And I wasn’t alone - researchers have found that 42 to 82 percent of dietitians have orthorexic tendencies.
I didn’t realize that the rigidness of my “healthy diet” was detrimental until I was faced with cooking for a family.
When I was a new mother, I still had unconscious food rules about the nutritional quality of the meal - a certain amount of vegetables, limited fat, no meat yet high in protein, and a limited amount of carbohydrates in the form of whole grains only.
I didn’t have these rules written down anywhere. I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint them at the time. Yet they were unconscious requirements that I felt chained to in the pursuit of health.
I felt like a HAD to eat this way and there was little room for flexibility. My diet itself was adequate and balanced - just fine on paper. But it was my RIGIDITY around it that made it a problem.
The addition of my family’s preferences made these food rules much trickier to attain. My emerging toddler didn’t eat sauces, foods mixed together, or several other things (yet). My husband preferred richer flavors and meat with most meals.
The Breaking Point
I vividly remember sitting on the couch with my husband trying to come up with 3 meals that would work for the week…just 3 meals…and ending up in tears. I recognized that my emotional reaction seemed strong given the situation at hand. I mean, it’s just dinner, right?
I realized that this went deeper than meal planning.
I was feeling burdened by the pressure to be a perfect mom and a perfect dietitian.
That was when I realized something had to give.
Ultimately, my dietary rules weren’t healthy because they were stressing me out. They limited my ability to prepare and enjoy a meal with my family. The food rules had to go.
Easing Up On Diet Mentality
After I acknowledged the unhealthy limitations that my rules were causing, it was easier for me to loosen them. I found solutions that worked for our family.
For example, we started eating macaroni and cheese. I started with a “from scratch” version, then graduated to the blue box, and now we enjoy Chik Fil’A’s creamy delicious version too.
I became willing to eat all types of meat. I found a chili recipe with a smaller amount of beef and plenty of veggies and beans that fit our preferences. I realized just how delicious beef tacos are and it’s the most celebrated meal in our home.
It was a trial and error, grace-filled, gradual sort of process. And it was out of this open-minded, curious place that I developed a system of meal planning that is realistic and flexible.
Now? Meal planning is SO. MUCH. EASIER. And I feel free.
What about you?
Can you relate? Are you feeling burdened? Are you trying to meet some unrealistic expectation of the “perfect mom”, or “the healthy one”?
Does finding a meal that pleases everyone feel like an impossible puzzle? Are certain family members eating the “healthy dinner” you make, and then immediately snacking because it’s not satisfying?
If this is you, keep reading!
More on the Blog
Check out this blog post on ways to release diet mentality and make meal planning easier.
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