Navigating Healthy Eating Without Falling Into Diet Culture Traps
Prescriptive diets can be a lifesaver in critical health situations, such as Crohn’s flare-ups or end-stage renal disease. However, I want to shift the focus away from these extreme cases and discuss the role of diets for those seeking overall health improvement, weight loss, or symptom control in chronic conditions like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).
My approach is informed by ample nutrition research demonstrating how specific nutrients and foods can significantly enhance health. Yet, I draw a clear distinction from prescriptive diets, which often involve detailed meal plans, measured portions, and strict lists of permitted and forbidden foods. The reason for my disagreement with such diets is rooted in the associated risks, including the likelihood of failing to adhere (commonly within 3-4 weeks), internalising this failure as a personal shortcoming, losing confidence in flexibility, and developing a rigid, black-and-white mindset towards food, potentially leading to disordered eating.
Another Perspective
What's another way to approach this? Well, consider focusing on your goals and using science to suggest changes that you can easily make today. These changes should be doable and help you move closer to what you're aiming for. The key is making sure you understand the science behind the advice so you can use these principles in various situations and remain flexible. When you feel ready, we can think about increasing the challenge a bit. It's also about keeping an eye on your thoughts and feelings about food to ensure you maintain or develop flexibility and can make choices that work for you in specific situations.
Redefining Choices
Traditional diets often dictate strict rules like 'Don’t Eat Cake,' regardless of the circumstances, be it a regular day or your Granny's 90th birthday. However, I propose a different perspective: Eating a piece of cake can be a joyous, neutral, or a negative decision for you, depending on the context.
Consider these scenarios:
- Are you reaching for cake on the drive home from work to push away unwanted thoughts and feelings after a challenging day?
- Is it 4 pm, and you're indulging in cake because you skipped lunch and have an overwhelming craving for something sweet?
- Is it 4 pm, and you are craving cake, but you realised that you missed lunch and therefore decide to have a ‘proper meal’ because you know you are hungry, and cake will not keep you full for very long.
- On your Granny’s 90th, are you skipping cake to be 'good' or avoid worrying about weight gain?
- Did you say 'sod it' and had some cake at your Granny’s birthday, only to come home feeling like your day's been ruined? Now, you're eating everything in sight, feeling guilty, ashamed, and determined to 'fix it' tomorrow by restricting food or exercising.
- Or, are you having a slice of cake with your Granny, savouring the experience without any unwanted feelings attached?
The circumstances surrounding your choices influence the decision “to eat or not to eat cake’. The scenarios can indeed continue to unfold. In a similar vein, let's explore the motivations behind incorporating specific elements into your daily routine.
Opting for Change
- Do you find yourself consuming something and feeling that it has become monotonous? Perhaps, you'd prefer an alternative, but you feel compelled to continue consuming it with the aim of slimming down, preventing weight gain, regulating hormones, or improving fertility.
- Opting for a healthy choice, do you notice a sense of deprivation? During overwhelming times, do you catch yourself saying, 'I can't be bothered with this; I need something that brings joy to me'?
- Or, it could be that you're adjusting your eating habits because you now understand that a previous routine, such as your dinner, negatively impacted your sleep, worsened your insulin resistance and left you feeling tired and craving sugar the next day. Using nutritional principles flexibly, respecting taste preferences, you will find pleasure in your new dinner routine. Occasionally revisiting your old-style meals, you observe without judgment how your body reacts, making decisions that align with what feels right for you— not merely because it's an order glaring at you from your meal plan.
The Path Forward
The secret is in moving away from rigid, one-size-fits-all diet rules and embracing a more personalised, science-based approach to nutrition. By understanding the underlying principles, you can make informed choices that align with your goals and preferences. It's about fostering a healthy relationship with food that considers the diverse contexts in which eating occurs. Rather than succumbing to the pitfalls of prescriptive diets, the emphasis is on flexibility, self-awareness, and the gradual incorporation of achievable changes. In doing so, you can embark on a journey towards better health and well-being, one that is sustainable, adaptable, and attuned to your unique needs and circumstances.
Monika is sharp, attentive, and uniquely supportive. I worked with her for six solid months and have seen real breakthroughs in my body image perception and relationship with food. I feel capable of trusting myself and less driven by shame or anxiety. There IS freedom and joy when it comes to eating and nourishing our bodies, and Monika is an excellent guide to getting there. I truly could not recommend her more.
Working with Monika has been the best decision I made this year! I have PCOS and an underactive thyroid and had been struggling to lose weight for nearly a decade. I had two early miscarriages in late 2021 and early 2022 and had not been able to fall pregnant since. Since working with Monika, I now have a deeper understanding of how to support my body, my cycles are getting more regular and I'm losing weight more consistently. I am so much confident in my body too and I know what to focus on going forwards! The support and accountability Monika provides is incredible and I highly recommend her services.
Working with Monika is one of the best investments I could made in myself. I contacted her because I was experiencing stomach pains and was feeling low and desperate. After years of yo-yo dieting and binge eating Monika has helped me to understand how to nourish my body and eat healthily. I feel so much happier and in control now and have the knowledge I need to maintain a healthy way of eating. Thank you so much Monika!
I decided to go ahead with Monikas PCOS programme after lots of consideration and I'm glad I did! Monika has been great to work with and has approached everything with the sensitivity I haven't been able to get from GPs, whose only solution for me was to "lose weight". With the onslaught of info found online, it's hard to stay motivated to do anything, especially when it all seems like it's unachievable unless I flip my whole life around, but right from the beginning, Monika set achievable goals and took things step by step, so I didn't feel overwhelmed. Towards the end of the programme, I noticed that my period had come 10 days early than usual which it hasn't done for many years, and I even managed to lose 2 kgs and stay there! Monika really helped me take a closer look at my eating habits and how my stress was also affecting things, but I know that even though I may momentarily have a couple bad weeks, I know exactly what I need to do to get back on track and since I've already done it once, I know I can do it again!
