I eat beyond fullness sometimes, sure. But “slipping up”? Nah. That’s the guilt-trip language of diet culture, trying to pull me back into its orbit. Slipping up goes hand in hand with getting back on track, and I already know how this story goes for me — restrict, binge, restrict, binge, forever and forever amen.
A slip-up implies a mistake; getting something wrong. In diet culture, food behaviors are delineated as right vs. wrong, good vs. bad. But when there is no right or wrong, in food choices or food quantity, the fear of slipping up loses its power. And that’s how you get your power back.
I’d argue that the real “slip-up” to worry about is backsliding into the guilt and shame of diet culture. Rather than blaming the symptom — and yourself — try focusing on the social and physiological forces that got you to this point. To escape the diet cycle, you have to start with the diet mindset.
(For the record: Recovery looks different for everyone, and whatever is working for you is fabulous. Really! Keep doing what you’re doing, and keep on rocking.)
Here’s the mindset that worked for me: Eating is not bad. Feeling full is not bad. Even feeling overly full is not bad. You can’t slip up when there’s no right or wrong. There’s just you, being in charge, and owning every second.
Giving yourself permission to eat until you want to stop is empowering. It puts you back in the driver’s seat. It allows you to listen, really listen, to your body’s needs in each moment. It lets your hunger and fullness hormones do their job. Best of all, it makes you the expert of your own body. Diet culture HATES that. And that’s why I love it.
six months to sanity 
Great posts. Had a similar discussion the other day about ‘ cheat days’. Why are such negative terms given to having control and choice over eating😕?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh how I HATE the “cheat day”!! The negativity around food is so pervasive that I wonder if people even hear themselves anymore. The other day a coworker was describing a food she liked as “dangerous”… really? Can it not just be delicious? Thank you, Jo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Makes me think of the child hood joke…what is yellow and dangerous. Shark infested custard 😉😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my gosh that’s hilarious! Now THAT is a dangerous food. Beware!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
In your most recent post you briefly mention you did your own 6 mo. “reset”. I was hoping you might post a more detailed account of what that experience looked like for you and when that 6mo was done what was different when you transitioned to “normal” eating.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes!! I love this idea, thank you! When I think about what changed after my own six-month reset, I always just think: *everything.* Great idea to dig deeper into what my personal experience before, during, and after has been like. Thank you so much for your comment and for reading!
LikeLike
Hi Kelsey, thank you for personally replying back to me and also for taking the chance to write about intuitive eating. You have a unique, but I feel most accurate, B. S. and stress free understanding of the subject. I have done extensive research and have come across hunger scales, ugh! and “within healthy guidelines. What? How many naturally from birth intuitive eaters say to themselves” where am I at on the hunger scale?” Lol! Please keep the 6mts posts coming! You are awesome! And my inspiration to keep working on this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so, so, so much!! Can’t tell you how much your kind words mean to me 😀 Keep going…you can totally do this!
LikeLike
It’s to the point where even nutrition “experts” with a degree treat you like a half crazy patient when they find out you don’t restrict but listen to your body’s needs instead. It’s a crying shame. Thank you for your much needed testimony and no-nonsense approach. Your blog has changed my life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so sorry this response is so ridiculously tardy, but I want to say how much I love and agree with your comment! Nutrition can be such a fascinating and helpful science but sadly too much of it is just diet culture in fancy science-y terms. You have to specifically seek out body-neutral and anti-diet nutritionists, and I’d bet most of the people who need it most don’t even know that that’s an option. It’s disheartening and depressing how much nutrition “experts” perpetuate the cycle of dieting.
It means the world to me that you enjoy reading here!! I will never forget the intuitive eating blogger who changed my life, and I’m so very honored to pass it on to you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
LikeLike