Today Heather talks with one of her Intuitive Eating Coaches, Erin Todd, about step one of Intuitive Eating, which is giving up the Diet Mentality. Erin and Heather hash through how conditioned we are to believe that diets and plans are the only ways to be "healthy" or be on the "path" to a better body or better health. They also talk about the following:

• How we feel "safe" when we are conforming to the way everyone else is eating or dieting.
• Why we cling to diets or eating plans even if we know they don't work in the long run.
• How we conflate appearance with identity. Heather shares how it feels like failure not to be pursuing a thinner body.
• How the measure of a body's worth has changed from "Yay, you'll survive the winter" to "the person who can restrict the most, wins."
• How Intuitive Eating is a weight-neutral, non-diet approach to listening to and caring for your body. There are boundaries and principles to be guided by.
• How Intuitive Eating is bigger than just how you eat and how the framework respects how our bodies were created.
• How Intuitive Eating isn't the same as just "not being on a diet"
• How do we trust ourselves around food.
• Why we are afraid that when we stop dieting we'll gain hundreds of pounds. Or that, "Once we stop eating we'll never stop." (And the black and white thinking behind that).
• Why are we afraid of the opinions of people we don't know about our bodies.
• How fear around food and diets is spiritual warfare.
• How dieting/following plans may keep us from our ultimate purpose here on earth-loving God and loving others well.
• How dieting as a prescription doesn't fit the "standard of care" test.
• The Weight Watchers (WW) illustration- how this huge diet company's recent purchase of a weight loss drug company may reveal what's really going on.
• What do diets really cost us?

Are you ready to start walking in freedom? Consider coaching with Heather. Learn more about Christian body image coaching on Heather's website: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/Christian-body-image-coaching

Are we email friends yet? Get the FREE 5-Day Improve Your Body Image Email Challenge here.

Connect with Erin Todd and learn more about Intuitive Eating for Christian Women on their podcast and blog.

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