Let’s Ditch the Rules and Rigidity Around Food

Trust your body to know what it needs to feel nourished.

What does trust have to do with our relationship to food? In my opinion. Everything.  

Living amongst all the pressures of the have-to's and should-do's when it comes to diet and the health and wellness industry can just feel sooo overwhelming.

We are human. We crave that magic pill or cure for weight loss, perfect skin and even positive mental health.  We want to fix, we want someone else to tell us what to do, to lay out the steps and give up the secret sauce recipe so to speak.  Do I go paleo, low-carb, high protein, mediterranean, vegan, raw, gluten-free, keto, or try intermittent fasting? Diet culture has become so heavily saturated over the years that there are just too many options and frankly too many debates about the “right way to eat.” 

Are you feeling lost? Overwhelmed? Or stressed out when it comes to food?

We all want to do "the right thing," but unfortunately this can leave us controlling way too much and trusting not enough.  Even when it comes to our bodies.  We restrict, we obsess, we behave "good" all day following all of the “rules,” plus maybe get a workout in, so we can feel less guilty and justify rewarding ourselves with some kind of treat at the end of a hard day.  If this sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. As you can guess, I am here to boldly burst the diet culture bubble. 

Diets do not work because they are loaded with rules and red tape. They do not work because they are rooted in fear and control. 

Yep. Wow, lets just let that sink in. I’m issuing a Trigger warning for what follows next: It’s like a cycle that just keeps you trapped and aligned with fear. But isn’t fear why we turn to dieting in the first place? We are straight up scared. And not just scared of becoming fat or not being thin enough, although these are real fears for most women. At the root of it, we are scared of rejection, not fitting in, not feeling worthy, and not being loveable.

Fear is also one of those emotions that can hijack us right out of the present moment and make us want to run for the hills and hide. For many women, it is at the root of why we turn to food to comfort or soothe our emotions. I will speak more about emotional eating at another time, but in either case we seek the same thing. We want to feel better. And how we have been coping until now has been a means towards this goal. However, what we end up with is a perceived sense of safety and control that lasts only temporarily.

Dieting and rigidity around food sever any intuitive connection to our innate relationship with food and cut us off from trusting what feels good.  Spiritually speaking, if dieting is entangled with fear it carries a low vibe energy that to some degree feels toxic.  Suffice to say that when we diet or create rules around what we eat, somewhere along the way we slide “off track.” We judge, we beat ourselves up, and end up feeling more anxious, maybe guilty or ashamed, and even worse about ourselves compared to when we started.  

Now don’t get me wrong, there are certain key principles that we can learn and adopt from some diets, in terms of what foods we may wish to eat more or less of and we can try applying them to our own diet to see how it feels.  For instance, one can still incorporate lots of healthy fat into their diet without following a strict Keto regime; or be mindful of their food intake for the day without portion control or counting calories. The difference here is that we are in charge of navigating what and how we eat. We develop and lean into trust, and build confidence in ourselves to know what works and what doesn’t for our unique being. In turn this has a positive impact on our mental and emotional health.

If I’ve got your attention, working with me at Leigh Berry Co. is for those who are ready to ditch the strict rules and negative self-talk around food.  For those ready to say goodbye to emotional eating habits, or other behaviours surrounding food that are no longer serving you. 

We will create a nutrition plan that works for you because it feels good.  Each client will receive an extensive health history review of dietary and lifestyle habits, a diet log, and individualized dietary, supplementation and lifestyle recommendations to address primary concerns identified. 

I believe it is important to understand what is at the root of our problems. I believe that we are all biochemically individual and unique. That what works for one person, may not work for another, and that we cannot fix or control our way to healthy eating or living for that matter.  I believe that the body carries a lot of wisdom when it comes to its ability to communicate with us, including how it feels in relation to the food we eat.

In my work with clients, I strive to create a space that welcomes curiosity rather than rigidity around food.

That fosters exploration of one’s relationship with food and builds trust in oneself to know what feels good.  I work collaboratively with clients to educate about how to eat to support stress and balance mood; and how to align with foods that work for them through exploring gentle elimination protocols or how we can add more feel good foods to our existing diet.  From a spiritual or energetic lens, I can also guide clients to learn how to use food to grow their connection to Self and actually raise their vibrational frequency.

I uniquely offer counselling services alongside holistic nutrition and strongly recommend that one-one or group therapy is explored to better integrate the wellness experience and optimize growth and healing.  However, since everyone’s needs and experiences vary, I am happy to discuss your situation with you during a client consultation.  

Through this complimentary approach, I aim to guide clients home to themselves so they may feel a greater sense of inner connection and alignment; and live from a place of ease, confidence, and trust.  If you have landed here, celebrate your curiosity. You are taking steps to love yourself boldly and find what feels good.

Are you ready to ditch the rules and rigidity around food? Or shift how you relate to food when it comes to your big emotions?