What do you do if you're feeling terrible about your body and the way you've been eating? Diet? Nope. Take awesome care of yourself and eat to feel your best mentally and physically. You can’t go wrong with that. If I feel bad about my body, it’s generally because I’ve been treating it badly, neglecting my needs, or forgetting what’s important to me. It's so easy to do when life is crazy. The answer is always re-focusing on happiness and self-care, which takes body and mind to a good place. Then we’re more aware of how our choices make us feel. Our behaviors and values better align. If we value health and have been neglecting that, we can add more nutritious foods or get better sleep. If we value flexibility and freedom, we eat something fun or spontaneous without guilt. If we value fitness, we move in ways that make us feel strong and energized. At the end of the day, we feel good about our choices and experience positive effects from them.
A diet mindset tells you that you've been bad and you're doing it wrong. You have to do this, or stop doing that. It tells you your body is unacceptable and must be fixed. For any of us who have struggled with restrictive eating, those crazy thoughts are always going to be in the back seat, you just don't let them drive the car.