When most people think about nutrition their mind immediately goes to dieting. Thoughts of dread or dreams about a quick fix will inevitably filter through your mind, however, dieting isn’t the way to go for long lasting results. I have done the diet cycle many times in my life, losing and gaining large amounts of weight. Crash dieting may yield quick results, but they don’t last. The reason for this is that most diets are not sustainable for long periods of time, certainly not for life. What we teach is a more moderate approach to whole nutrition. We find that this leaves room for you to still eat the things you love. Dieting is a form of restricting and restricting breeds this avoidance/scarcity mentality. By labeling foods as bad or forbidden it gives those foods more power than they should have. Good and Bad imply morality, food has no morality. Food is either more nutrient dense or less nutrient dense. Food is just food, therefore by giving it this label as bad or telling yourself you can’t have it you are turning it into this forbidden thing which in turn makes it even more desirable. If you were to treat all foods equally then it becomes a lot easier to moderate some of the less ideal choices. Think about it, if pizza is your favorite food and you deny yourself pizza because it is forbidden or bad then when you do have the opportunity to eat it you will likely overeat and make yourself sick. On the other hand, if you don’t view foods in the frame of good or bad then you are free to enjoy pizza when you wish and feel no need to overindulge because you can have it whenever you like. Restricting can also cause your muscle mass to decrease which further reduces your bodies need for calories making it that much easier to gain weight. Initially when you are adjusting to a more intuitive approach to eating there will be times when you will overindulge as you acclimate to the change these times will decrease, and things will regulate. Allow yourself some grace while you are adjusting, real change takes time. Healthy, lasting weight loss or muscle gain takes time. Change is a process, there are no shortcuts and not magic pills. Take your time, make small changes at first and grow from there. Seek out the help of nutrition coach if you aren’t sure where or how to start and we can help to guide you down the path.