Every week, there seems to be a theme in what my clients bring up in session. This week it has been “Summer is coming!” Clients whose weight cycles a lot (via dieting) wonder if their clothes will fit when they try them on the first time this year. So the dieting mind gets LOUD again. Just when you are getting over the damage of the “new year’s diet”, it’s time to shift into”Oh no, summer!” panic mode.
The thing is, there is no such thing as a “summer body.”
Your body is a body for ALL seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter!
The siren song of the weight loss and cosmetic industries is calling again. I’ve noticed more radio ads selling diet products to help you “get that summer body.” It’s disgusting to hear them trying to hook people in this way.
And you are the one who is harmed in all of this madness. Your relationship with yourself suffers. Your body weight tends to go in the direction you don’t want it to (because that’s what dieting does!) It makes you think you just haven’t tried hard enough, and that’s when the magical thinking begins.
“It will be different this time.”
The truth is, it won’t. Dieting does not work. I’m sorry. It just doesn’t.
Be mindful of ideas like “I’m not going to diet, I’m just trying to watch what I eat. I’m trying to be healthy.” If you have a history of chronic dieting, you probably haven’t had the time you need between each weight loss attempt to heal your relationship with food and body. It took men in the Keys study up to ONE YEAR to normalize their eating behaviors after being restricted to 1560 calories a day for six months (University of Minnesota, 1945). Another diet is not going to allow you to do this. It just keeps you in the harmful cycle of dieting and disordered eating.
Efforts that are rooted in body shame are not capable of truly improving your overall health and well-being. And they are also not capable of bringing your body to a stable weight, which is the focus we have at Be Nourished. Bodies do best with consistency, predictability, and reliability. They don’t benefit from a plan you can follow for a few weeks or months before the “screw it” phase of the cycle begins. Bodies benefit from what you do consistently over time. That is what matters.
We encourage you to shift the focus to sustainable, weight-neutral self-care practices; choices that are rooted in kindness, compassion, and respect for your body. This is what will ease the panic and return you to yourself.
It’s time to redefine what “success” really means. You are so much more than a number on a scale. Live and love from within. It is the only thing that will bring what you deeply desire: to know that you are enough.
In kindness,
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