If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, follow Julie on Social Media, or subscribe to Julie’s emails you may have heard the phrase – Diet Rock Bottom. The first time I heard it was on this very podcast back in 2019 when I started listening to it. I was so fascinated by the term I started thinking about what Diet Rock Bottom looked like for me.
I felt like I tried every diet known to us and quote failed at each of them. Anytime I started a diet, there would be the week leading up to the diet, when I would eat anything and everything I could get my hands on knowing I wouldn’t be allowed most of those foods when the diet began. Then there would be the weeks/months of thinking about all those foods constantly, only to remind myself they were forbidden. Then of course the occasional slip up or cheat day where I convinced myself it was okay and felt tremendous guilt afterward. And I continued this cycle over and over and over for many years of my life, being so unkind to myself and berating myself for not having the control or will-power to stay on any diet. I told myself every lie in the book about what it meant to be me.
I realized this was not how I wanted to continue to live my life and I think that “last diet” where I felt I was starving all the time did that for me. Diets are so seductive. There’s this hope that boiled in my chest every time I thought about starting a new one, with thoughts like I will be different this time and I know I can do it this time, or this is the time it sticks. Like somehow starting a new diet would change my whole outlook on life and I would be happier. This seductive fantasy is what got me time and time again, until it just didn’t anymore. Until I realized I was doing myself more harm than good, both on a physical and mental level.
Our bodies are programmed to survive and dieting kicks in our pre-programed physiology to not continue with this self-destructive behavior. Our bodies do not like diets, and our bodies are trying to take care of us. So when it feels we are going into starvation mode, it’s going to over compensate. When I felt like I needed to binge after dieting for a portion of time, that wasn’t me failing. That was me being human and my instincts were trying to take care of me. In order to heal my relationship with food I had to work on changing my thoughts around food, healing my relationship with food, and healing my relationship with…. Drumroll please… myself.
Did you know research shows all diets fail and it is only a matter of time weight will be regained. If my story sounds like yours, you may be at diet rock bottom too. I want to invite you into this space with me and know you are not alone, you are not flawed, and you deserve food peace and care the same as anyone else. We are in this together and there are steps we can take to heal some of the pain and agony diet has brought into our lives. One of those steps is signing the Food Voice Pledge, head to julieduffydillon.com/pledge to stand up to diet culture in your life – this is a commitment to moving out of diet rock bottom and pledge to honor and respect your body. Deciding to no longer Diet can feel so freeing after you’ve hit diet rock bottom.
This segment was written and recorded by Coleen Bremner. Listen to episode 294 of Find Your Food Voice for more.
