First, let’s start with the facts
It is predicted that the Global market for the weight loss industry will grow from $254.9 billion in 2021 to $377.3 billion by 2026.
We have all be trained that the only option to deal with overeating and weight concerns is dieting. That is the consistent message we have all heard since childhood. Many families by into this concept and put their children and teens on a diet, which is a predictor for eating disorders for those who are predisposed to eating disorders.
We are sold weight loss products at an alarmin rate. They are heavily marketed at the first of the year and prior to summer aka “bikini season.” We are told by the weight loss industry that we are not ok at the size we are and that we need to lose weight to be “healthy.” There is imagery that people who are thin are happy and people who are overweight are sad and lonely. We have been sold a bill of goods- literally.
The diet mindset has been planted in use at a young age and it is pervasive throughout our lives unless we combat it.
1) We think we need to be a certain size.
2) Society teaches us that we cannot accept our bodies except if we are thin.
3) There is a scale driven mindset where we must have a certain number on the scale to think that we are good enough or desirable.
What do we know about diets?
· First, they focus on deprivation. There are forbidden foods, and we want what we cannot have.
· Second, diets make us focus on food all the time.
· Third, diets lead us to see food as good or bad.
How can you ditch the diet?
1. Ask yourself, what is dieting to me? Is it a constant focus on food, scale and what I can’t have?
2. Are you focused on your weight?
3. Learn to eat intuitively.
It takes time and support to ditch the diet mindset, because it is so pervasive in our culture. Be sure to get in a community where others are focused on letting go of the diet mindset AND give yourself the opportunity to learn about intuitive eating to let go of dieting. This is put you in step with a process that will lead to food freedom.
Want more Food Freedom?
Get the Food Freedom Masterclass here.
Kim McLaughlin is a psychotherapist, coach, podcaster, and author. She helps people who are struggling with overeating and emotional eating. You can find out more at www.FeedYourSoulUnlimited.com
Join us for more conversation at:
Facebook:
Feed Your Soul Community Page
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/feedyoursoulunlimited/
@feedyoursoulunlimited
Website:
http://feedyoursoulunlimited.com/
We would love it if you would leave us a 5 star review on your favorite platform.
Thanks for listening to the Feed Your Soul with Kim Podcast.
First, let’s start with the facts
It is predicted that the Global market for the weight loss industry will grow from $254.9 billion in 2021 to $377.3 billion by 2026.
We have all be trained that the only option to deal with overeating and weight concerns is dieting. That is the consistent message we have all heard since childhood. Many families by into this concept and put their children and teens on a diet, which is a predictor for eating disorders for those who are predisposed to eating disorders.
We are sold weight loss products at an alarmin rate. They are heavily marketed at the first of the year and prior to summer aka “bikini season.” We are told by the weight loss industry that we are not ok at the size we are and that we need to lose weight to be “healthy.” There is imagery that people who are thin are happy and people who are overweight are sad and lonely. We have been sold a bill of goods- literally.
The diet mindset has been planted in use at a young age and it is pervasive throughout our lives unless we combat it.
1) We think we need to be a certain size.
2) Society teaches us that we cannot accept our bodies except if we are thin.
3) There is a scale driven mindset where we must have a certain number on the scale to think that we are good enough or desirable.
What do we know about diets?
· First, they focus on deprivation. There are forbidden foods, and we want what we cannot have.
· Second, diets make us focus on food all the time.
· Third, diets lead us to see food as good or bad.
How can you ditch the diet?
1. Ask yourself, what is dieting to me? Is it a constant focus on food, scale and what I can’t have?
2. Are you focused on your weight?
3. Learn to eat intuitively.
It takes time and support to ditch the diet mindset, because it is so pervasive in our culture. Be sure to get in a community where others are focused on letting go of the diet mindset AND give yourself the opportunity to learn about intuitive eating to let go of dieting. This is put you in step with a process that will lead to food freedom.
Want more Food Freedom?
Get the Food Freedom Masterclass here.
Kim McLaughlin is a psychotherapist, coach, podcaster, and author. She helps people who are struggling with overeating and emotional eating. You can find out more at www.FeedYourSoulUnlimited.com
Join us for more conversation at:
Facebook:
Feed Your Soul Community Page
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/feedyoursoulunlimited/
@feedyoursoulunlimited
Website:
http://feedyoursoulunlimited.com/
We would love it if you would leave us a 5 star review on your favorite platform.
Thanks for listening to the Feed Your Soul with Kim Podcast.
How're you guys? Let's see, we're Hi everyone. Oh, got it, we're live. And this, I just haven't done a Facebook live in a long time. And so they changed the format a little bit. So it took me a little bit to get on and I am so glad to be with you. I am Kim McLaughlin. We are here at food freedom live, we're going to do this over three days. So Tuesday, so the eighth, the ninth and the 10th. We're going to come live at 12 o'clock Pacific to talk about some different things having to do with food and getting food freedom. And I'm super glad to be here, I as you can tell, I haven't done a Facebook live in a very long time. So this is super good. Usually I do these on Zoom, but I wanted to really come and get everybody in a live format. So here we are, food freedom Live, which is this, this is where we're going to start talking about how to have freedom with food and how to be and feel more empowered around food and feel more peaceful with food. And that's what I'm all about. If you want to get more information, you can always go to feed your soul unlimited.com. And that's where I have my blog, I've got a podcast, feed your soul with Kim, lots of things going on where you can learn more. And actually, at the end of this video, we'll talk about some ways that you can get more help because, you know, over eating and dieting has been a lifelong struggle for people. So we can't really think that over three days, half hour each day that we're going to have total food freedom. But this is the part that gets you going in the right direction to have more food freedom. So I'm looking forward to talking with you more about it. Today, we're going to talk about the diet mindset. And tomorrow, we're going to talk about emotions in eating. And on Thursday, we're going to talk about my top top component that I use, to help with food and to have food freedom. So please watch all three videos, I'll have the link below if you're watching and you haven't signed up to get all the information I can send if you I'll put the link in the notes. And then you can go in and and sign up and get the all the logins and all the all the particulars you might need about what's going on. So when I talk about food freedom, I I think the first thing I thought of when I thought about having freedom with food is about diets and the diet mindset. So I actually looked here, I've got it right in front of me. Today I just looked up what the dieting business, you know, diet. Dieting is a business. And when I think about dieting, and how it's affected me during my life and how it's affected my clients. What helps is when I start putting it in context of what is first we're going to talk we're going to go into like what is a diet? We'll talk about that today. So you get kind of clear because it's become kind of fuzzy over the years. As far as I'm concerned, it's been a little fuzzy. And there's also the business. So the business of dieting, I've got it right here in front of me It says dieting, and I just just just looked it up on Google, the global market for weight loss will grow from 254 point 9 billion with the B 254. Point 9 billion in 2021. It will grow from that number to 377 point 3 billion with a B by 2026. That is a huge industry. So when we talk about dieting, we've all I am going to talk more about that idea of how we've really embraced the idea of dieting. And I want you to really consider you've been sold to you've been sold to buy this$254.9 billion industry that wants you to buy. And when I think of an industry that's actually growing its growing industry by 2026. It'll be 377 point 3 billion with a B. That means it's not working. Guys, it's not working. So what I want to do is talk about what does work what's a different way to look at our bodies. What's a different way to look at foods because if we just go with the same old same old, we're gonna get the same old result, which means dieting, then not dieting and binging and, and this kind of circle that we go in. So why I thought about doing this food freedom live right now is because we're in the start of the new year. And and when I think about it, there are really two times of the year where we're sold to in such a large way we're sold to about diets. And that is at the first of the year. And at, they call it swimsuit season, quote unquote, swimsuit season. So at the first of the year, we're sold about diets, because we've, what we're told is that we've eaten too much, we've gotten too fat over the holidays, and we need to restrict, and we need to diet. And that is the I noticed that the ads for weight loss were hot and heavy over Christmas, December, there was a start of there was absolutely a start of this, this these kinds of ads that are selling to you this idea of a diet. And remember, they're selling to you so that you buy it. And they're doing it because it works. And let me tell you, it they're doing it because the selling of it works, the actual diet process doesn't work. But the selling to you works really well. And then what will happen in a couple of months, this will get sold into bikini season and will get sold into kind of, you have to restrict you have to dye it in order to be bikini ready to wear the shorts or the tank tops, because obviously, we can't wear a bikini or shorts and a tank top if we aren't a certain size. And that is another area that I think is really, really mistaken for us to buy into. Because we're sold that our bodies don't look good, and that we have to be really thin in order to wear certain clothes. When that isn't, it isn't true. And also what this whole industry does is sell to us the idea that we can't be happy at the size that we're at. And we can't be joyous. I I think about the whole ad the the process of advertisements. And you'll see you know, who are the the the happy people, the thin people, the people who dieted who are the sad, the frustrated, lonely people are the people that are overweight, or over whatever weight is determined to be overweight, because really, whatever is determined to be overweight, quote, unquote, at this point in time is actually what's normal and what most people look like. So we're sold this idea of being something that we have to be in order to be happy, we have to be thin. And if we're not, then we're not happy. And I'm here to say that that's just not true. And that you deserve to be happy in the body that you have, and deserve to love the body that you have, because there's nothing wrong with it. And when we we look at dieting, we're told that we're just not okay. And and you guys we've bought into it. And when when we look at the dieting mindset, how do we know like how do you know I found this is fascinating is how do we know any more when we're being sold to because it's become a a process of selling to us and and now it's using kind of these other words have been co opted? No, it used to be about losing weight, lower calories, fat free, all those kinds of things. And now it's healthy lifestyle healthy lifestyle I find is fascinating, or I need to be I need to have a healthy body. And and the the kind of idea that's put to that is that you don't have a healthy body if you have a body that is considered overweight or considered fat. And that's not what I talk about with my clients is that that's not the measure of health. Your size is not the measure of health, your cholesterol where your cholesterol is, um your heart rate, your lung capacity. how your body works, that's a level of health. You might be low in, in hormones, like that's health, weight is just your body and so I want to also have you think about distinguishing about have you been sold to that your body is not healthy when Every I mean, everything about my body is superduper healthy, I have a size that is the size that I am. But I'm literally very, very healthy, you can't find that much wrong with me. But if we start looking at my size or my weight, there might be, you know, some industry that says that I lack health when I I know that that's just not true. So just think about how you're being sold to what are the words that are being said? And what are the ideas that are being said, that are leading you to think that you're not in health? And and and think about what the markers are, that really do show whether you're healthy or not healthy? So let's talk about the diet mindset. How would you know? Or? Or what do you? How would you know if you're in that diet mindset? Because I think, once again, we get sold to so much that we don't even know that one we're being sold to. And two, we're being told that we have an unhealthy body and that we're we're engaging in this diet mindset. So the first thing I think of is that the idea of the diet mindset is that we have to be a certain size. And that it's interesting, I don't know if you all have had this. But have you ever been had this idea of a number in your head, I used to have an idea of a number in my head that I was supposed to be in order to be healthy, that that if my body was at this number on the scale that then I was healthy. And what was interesting to me is that I actually I never was out that number except at one point in my life when I was very, very young. And it never, I was never able to be at that size again. And I really had it in my head that in order to be healthy in order to be attractive. In order to be desirable, I had to have that number on the scale. And I think you all can imagine that, you know, if you have this idea that you have to be at this certain number. If you don't reach it, then what's the translation to me before it used to be, I'm not healthy, I'm not attractive, nobody's gonna want to be with me, I can't wear a bathing suit. All those kind of things were in my head when that wasn't true that that was really part of a diet mindset. So part of the diet mindset is I have to be at a certain size. And and that's part of that diet culture. Another is that the dieting mindset is that our society kind of prescribes what our bodies supposed to look like. And this I find interesting again, there was you know, 100 years ago, being heavy, or even more than 100 being heavy was desired, because it showed you had plenty of food. So you had plenty of food and your body was larger, which meant Oh, you, you don't have to work in the field, you don't have to work outside, because your body is is this larger size. And then we had these things coming up about being really thin about being really thin. And I don't know about you, but my body is never going to be like straight and thin. But there was a time in our culture that, that that was the aspiration was to be like that when not many people can be that size, but it was a societal norm, and then became the, you know, the being really curvy, like having a small waist and large hips and a large booty. And my body doesn't really look like that. I'm short. And I'm not curvy round like that. I look different than that. So there are these societal norms that we think we're supposed to look like. We're think you know, that goes along with that having that bikini ready body is like, Well, my never look like that might just look like mine. And I wear a bathing suit because I want to swim. And that is a societal norm that also engages in that dieting mindset. The other thing that is a diet part of a diet mindset is that whole idea of being number driven. I talked about that just a little earlier for myself about having this number on the scale that we think we're supposed to have and that if we don't we don't feel attractive and we don't feel like we're okay, right? We're not good enough. We're not good enough. So think about that. I'm not good enough, unless this number on the scale. I have this number on the scale who I am. Who I am is is not good enough, unless I have a certain number on the scale. That to me sounds really strange when I really think about it. And that's something that I talk a lot with my, with my clients about. So literally who you are, and your value on this earth is prescribed by the number on the scale. Think about that. And, and that means that me being a mother, and all the good things I do as a mother, all the good things I do as a wife, and a friend, and a person and a volunteer, and a business owner, all those things are negated all those good things who I am, and what I do, are negated by the size of my body. And that's what happens when we really engage in that dieting mindset is that we forget who we really are, and how fabulous we are, because of that number on the scale. So I'm pointing these things out these some of these might fit for you. And some of these might not fit for you. But I want to point them out because I want to today challenge you. Have you challenge yourself about, wait a second, what is that diet? Do I have that dieting mindset? Is that part of who I am? And, and really start challenging? Does that really fit for me? Is that really what I want to think about myself? Because I'm here to tell you it's not true. The number on the scale is not who you are. The other thing I think of about diets with aside from the dieting mindset is like how do you know if you're on a diet because they've been so once again, co opted and calling them diets are often called healthy lifestyle? Healthy living, healthy eating, clean eating? Are all kind of code words, I think for diet. But I want you to consider are you on a diet? Have you been on a diet? What would you call a diet? And and I will not tell you certain places? If they're a diet or not, you have to decide this for you, you have to decide. And one of the ways to know Is it a diet, I think is by noticing if it comes from a place are you eating from a place of deprivation. deprivation, meaning there are forbidden foods, there are foods, I can't have foods I can't keep in the house because they're dangerous. I'll eat them. I remember I used to oh my god, a long time ago, you saw my boyfriend that I was living with at the time, you know, hide the cookies, so I didn't have them. And it's like hide the cookies because they're for my forbidden foods. And you can have them because you wanted them in the house. But I couldn't have them around because I couldn't control myself. This literally how it felt. I couldn't control myself around those foods. So I needed them either gone, or he had to hide them. Problem was I could hear him getting into them. So I knew where they were based on, you know, the sound of the cabinet and the thing that was being opened. It's like I know where they are. And that made it really difficult because I didn't think I was allowed to have those foods. So are you focused on deprivation with your food is it from a place of, I can't have these things. I can't have these things in the house because I can't be trusted around these foods. And what I want to say about that is that when you have food freedom, you can have those foods or not have those foods in the house as you see fit. But if you don't have them in houses, because you don't want them, if you have them in house, it's like it's just not a big deal. And that to me is a huge win with food freedom is that I can have food in the house. I have all those things, all those kind of forbidden foods, I guess what some people might not want to have in the house because they're dangerous. But I have them in the house. And it's just no big deal. I when I had my breakfast this morning, I didn't think about them when I have them for lunch. They're not something I'm going to eat because I've made peace with food. And when you make peace with food, you can have these foods in the house because my daughter likes them my husband like him that I like them. But I don't feel challenged that I'm going to eat them all day long. And I remember that feeling. I remember that feeling of I can't be trusted around food. I can't be trusted. And dieting for me back then was about deprivation and hiding those foods because I couldn't have them around. Another thing that I think of is will show whether it's a diet or not, is whether you focus on what you're going to eat all day long. I remember I've been on diet plans, many diet plans. And I remember there was one that like, I would plan out what I wanted to eat on Saturday. So today on Tuesday, since I knew I was going to eat more, because we were going to a party or whatever, you know, I eat wanting more on Saturday, so I eat less today, so that I can eat more on Saturday. Well, that meant I was hungry today. And couldn't have what my body needed today, because what I was gonna eat on Saturday, and also, how the heck would I know what I'm going to eat on Saturday, I don't know what I'm going to want on Saturday. And it was this interesting thing of focusing on food. So I had to figure out what I'm going to eat because I want to be prepared for later on. I do that somewhat in terms of the only time I do that is like, you know, for I know, we're going to go out tonight, I won't eat a larger lunch. So because I don't want to go out to a restaurant and be full. I mean, that's just kind of doesn't make sense. So there's a way to kind of eat in a way that notices what your plans are for later in the day. But it's not from a place of deprivation. We're not depriving ourselves. And so when you're not depriving yourself, you don't think about food all day long. It's like, Oh, you do this internal check. What I talk with you all and we'll talk more about as this week goes on, is the idea of intuitive eating, and how we get back in touch with our body to know what our body needs, and what our body wants, and what our body is craving. And I gotta tell you, it's not sugar all the time. And it's not carbs all the time. People will tell me like, well, Kim, if I intuitively eat, I'm going to eat sugar all day looks like I go, No, you're not, you're not going to want to if you literally are in touch with your body, you're going to eat what your body wants. And yes, sometimes we eat for emotional reasons, and we what we call fun foods. But it won't be every day, every meal, because it doesn't feel good to eat like that. Just like it doesn't feel good to eat. I mean, I'm not gonna eat salad all day, every day, like I need some protein, I need some carbs, I need some other kinds of fat in my diet. So I'm not going to even eat that way all the time. Because that's to me is deprivation also, because it's not kind of, you know, a variety of different kinds of food. The last thing I'm going to say about whether it's a diet or not, is whether it's good food versus bad food, we only good food and good food would be generally from what I hear people talk about is no fat, all vegetables, lean protein, if you have a protein, no sugar, no, no carbohydrates. And, and, and so it's it's determining these foods are good, and I can have those and these foods are bad, and I can't have those. And when we set up good versus bad, then we're setting ourselves up for a diet. And when we're on a diet, we're going to binge. So what I want to talk to you in terms of that is, is like what happens when we're wired diets bad, right? Okay, let's go there. Why are diets bad because what happens is, if you think of a circle, this is kind of the best way to describe it. A circle at the top of the circle is dieting and restricting. And we diet and restrict this is how we know to deal with our body to deal with weight issues is to diet restrict, right. And so if that's at the top of the circle, you move around the circle and down here. We end up binging it happens at a certain point in time, if you restrict and restrict and restrict, you're going to binge and you're going to feel out of control. And it won't be necessarily a day a week, it could be a year. And I've had that where people talk to me about dieting for a long period of time, and then they diet right at the top of the circle, and they move down to binging. And it's because the restriction makes us want the food. It makes us want it and then we're going to binge and then what happens is after we binge we feel bad, we move around the circle to like at the you know, quarter till time, if you make it a clock kind of circle. And what happens is then at that point, we are in shame and guilt. I feel bad about myself. I can't believe I did that. I shouldn't do that. I'm gaining weight. I don't like the weight. And so what we do is after that we come back to the top of the circle because the only thing we know how to do is to diet and restrict and stop eating. We have our good foods which are all we're gonna eat. We focus on food all the time. We have deprivation because that's the only way we know how to deal with it is restrict And then we go through that cycle again and again and again. And that's why diets don't work. Okay, I know this is a lot of information. And I want you to just consider which part of this information kind of fits for you and kind of feels like you. It's kind of matching for you. And just think about that. And I encourage you to do some things like do a little journaling, I wrote down some ideas. And I journal about what is dieting to me, what is dieting to me. And as you become to know that you can see whether the way that you're eating is dieting is is the way that you're eating a diet. And and look at that, because of all the things I've talked about, we're, what I'm telling you is that when we go into diet, we're going to binge at a certain point in time, we're going to feel shame, and we're going to then diet again, and we're going to go round and around. And that's why our weight goes up and down and up and down. And we really dislike ourselves. The other thing I want you to think about is, are you focusing a lot on your weight and your size. And what is that to you? Are you getting on the scale every day? Are you wanting to know whether that number has gone down, because what I know about being on the scale, personally, personally, about being on the scale is never low enough, I could lose a pound and that started enough, I could lose a quarter pound. And that's definitely not enough. If I stayed the same, that's horrible. If I increase that's horrible. And so it never felt like enough, I never felt good enough. And I never felt that I was at the right weight. And so I want to present over these three days is the idea of eating intuitively. And part of where we start with eating intuitively is we have to get clear on our dieting mindset, each of us, each of us have to get clear. And for me, I still find times where the dining mindset will come in my brain and all kind of get taken over by this idea of, of eating in a certain way. And I'll think we can that's dieting that's restricting really what's going on. And I'll have a little talk to myself. So Kim, what's up, because what I know is that eating intuitively, is really counterculture. It's radical, it's radical. People don't talk about this. But when we eat intuitively, we get back in touch with our body. And we get in touch with what our body needs. And and really ditch that diet. So we have food freedom. So these are some things I want you to think about and really having that journaling about what is dieting for me, and really get clear on that for you. Over the next two days, we're going to talk about tomorrow we're going to talk about emotional eating. That is a huge component of overeating. Yes, we all eat for emotional reasons. It's just how often do you eat for emotional reasons? And and how long does it go on for? And how do you feel about it. And we're going to talk about that in terms of emotions, and how that really affects eating. And then on Thursday, we're going to talk about one of my favorite components. That helps you move out of overeating and dieting, into intuitive eating. And we're going to talk about it because I want you to go away, I never want you to leave or I don't plan to have you leave feeling upset, but more just kind of going, huh, that's interesting. And and I want you to have tools that you have something to do and a different way of looking at it. So today is really looking at dieting differently. And thinking about that. We're going to talk tomorrow I have some really having three days for a half hour each day is not going to be enough to totally take all this away. It's a great start on the right path. But you need more help. You need more ideas, you need more kind of ways of looking at food differently than just over a couple of days for a half hour. And so I'll be talking tomorrow about a program you might want to join, if not now then later, but that you might want to join in terms of really looking at that, at how to eat intuitively and how to have that freedom with food. Because that's what I'm all about is giving you freedom with food and helping you get on track with where you want to be. It's to me it's really a lifelong process, but it certainly feels better than that restriction and feeling horrible about myself which I know, I know intimately how that feels. And I also know how it feels to have peace with food and to have freedom with food. Okay? So I encourage you tomorrow is come live, we'll be here at 12 o'clock I'll be I was a little late today because Facebook was like I said it's different. And so I'll be on at 12 o'clock on Wednesday 12 o'clock Pacific, feel free to join us live I actually didn't engage in in having comments. So tomorrow please feel free to give me comments also email me some comments on what you think what your takeaways are, because I would love to know and actually leave home if you watch this video later, leave comments below I'd love to hear what you think and what's coming up for you because this is powerful stuff. And like I said, it's really radical, it's really a different way of thinking about food and thinking about your body. And and thinking about whether dieting really works and having that kind of that kind of talk with yourself about what's really true about dieting and and looking at that so if you're seeing this on the replay thank you for joining those of you who came live thank you for coming live. And I will see you tomorrow 12 o'clock Pacific. And please let me know your takeaways. I would love to hear what you think and what this idea of the dieting mindset and ditching the diet what what you think about that. I would love to hear from you. So I'll talk to you tomorrow. Have a great rest of the day. Bye guys.