No More Diets

Ten ways to keep holiday eating in check without the guilt.

Photo & story by Kasey Brown, associate editor

Diet can be a four-letter word, but it doesn’t have to be. Cattlemen and women pay meticulous attention to what their cattle eat, but seem to have less care in what goes in their own mouths. Or maybe it’s quite the opposite, and they obsess about calories and quantities.

Research shows dieters who sustain weight loss are the rare exception, and often gain back more than they lost, says Tammie Gimenez, clinical dietitian with DB Productions of NW AR Inc.

That doesn’t have to be the case. Research shows dieters who sustain weight loss are the rare exception, and often gain back more than they lost, says Tammie Gimenez, clinical dietitian with DB Productions of NW AR Inc.

Too often people have a misconception of what their body should look like, instead of fueling it for what it was designed to do. Gimenez gives the example of a Bullmastiff trying to be the same weight as a Poodle, but their body types are completely different. A Bullmastiff wouldn’t be healthy at a Poodle’s weight, and vice versa.

Instead of diets, she offers the idea of intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is a self-care eating framework that integrates instinct, emotion and rational thought. It’s a non-diet approach to health and wellness.

It has plenty of benefits, like a lower body mass index, less emotional eating, higher levels of the good cholesterol (HDL) and less stress.

Intuitive eating is simple: Eat when you are hungry until you are satisfied.

Gimenez shares 10 tips to help increase success with intuitive eating from a video by Kelsey Heenan with www.hiitburn.com.

1. 1. Unlearn the diet mindset.
2. 2. Throw away scales, both for bodyweight and food. This helps you acknowledge your hunger cues.
3. 3. Burn your “never ever” eat list.
4. 4. Shut down negative thoughts.
5. 5. Learn when hunger is satisfied. Eat slowly and even pause during meals. Let your stomach catch up with your brain.
6. 6. Learn to cope with feelings outside of food.
7. 7. Understand your God-given shape.
8. 8. Shift your workout goals to improve strength and movement, not just weight loss.
9. 9. Practice balance in nutrition. Heenan gives the example of 80/20. Eighty percent of the time, she concentrates on eating nutrient-filled foods, but 20% of the time she includes treats. Nothing is off-limits, and she doesn’t deprive herself of anything.
10. 10. Give yourself grace.