Find the gray
Progress is not linear and it is extremely individualized. Your story won’t look like someone else’s, and that also encompasses your relationship with food and your body.
Your relationship with food and nutrition can be very “all or nothing.” Examples of this include food rules (defining what you must eat or can’t eat, limiting food groups or timing of meals), binge-restrict cycle, emotional eating and shame response, and “last supper” mentality before beginning another diet cycle.
Even when practicing intuitive eating, it can be tempting to take this to the extreme too, where you have to be doing it 100% all the time, where you can never eat when not hungry or can never emotional eat. Then when you binge or overeat or emotional eat once, which will inevitably happen for most people who diet or follow a restrictive eating pattern, this can set you up for a “screw it” mentality where throw your hands up in the air and retreat on your progress.
Progress is not linear and it is extremely individualized. Your story won’t look like someone else’s, and that also encompasses your relationship with food and your body.
Ideas to help find the gray:
Add in flexibility, look to create attainable and sustainable goals (do you really want to work out 30 min every day for the rest of your life? If so, start with 3 days/week. If not, maybe start slower).
Allow for setbacks and mistakes, off days and sick days. Low motivation does not need to lead to being “off the wagon.” Don't even get on the wagon to begin with. That often creates unnecessary pressure.
Find what works for you based on your goals and what time you know you can dedicate to your healthy behaviors (think of commute, meal prep, family/work needs, social calendar).
Preparation is also helpful! But we can also get stuck in non-action of planning, which can sometimes feel like action but it's not.
Use the food you eat as well as your feelings and emotions around this as information. Remain curious about where those are based for you.
Life is not black and white. Real nutrition is not either. Let’s work together to find that gray zone that feels good for you. Reach out here to connect!