Flexible dieting or doing the splits while eating a salad
So now I need a yoga mat to be on a diet?
If you’re thinking: “I mean, I like yoga and it does go together with being on a diet somehow…” that is not it. At least it is not behind the meaning of the term “flexible dieting”.
Lets refresh on regular dieting first
Dieting typically refers to short term attempts to lose weight by restricting the amount and/or types of food consumed. Unfortunately in most cases this means a very low calorie low volume diet where hunger is a constant companion which effects mental health as in overall wellness.
While this might be the most common meaning, the actual term only means regulating one’s food intake with the aim of improving one’s physical health, reduce an illness and increase overall wellbeing.
Potential problems
Toxic diet culture
When diet plans encourage extreme weight loss, require restricting yourself, advise on cutting calories and advocate an all or nothing approach. Furthermore idealising a certain body shape and size (skinny), and demonising carrying fat on your body and equating it to health and wellbeing, all this and more is toxic diet culture.
Not to mention advertising pills, teas or shakes, any “lose weight quick” schemes, that focus on you paying more, while not caring about your long term health or longevity.
Mental health issues
Toxic diet culture incorporates harmful body shaming for all shapes, promoting rigid eating standards and intense exercise regimes. Furthermore it frames food as “good” and “forbidden” with associated food guilt, self depreciation and negative self talk. All of which unfortunately result in a wide array of mental health issues.
Ok so what is flexible dieting and do why we prefer it
Flexible dieting is a lifestyle change where you focus on including nutritious heath promoting whole foods, while still allowing for fun foods in your life. It is based on fitting food and eating into your lifestyle and not the other way around.
Often described as the 80:20 rule, where 80% is focused on nutrition dense foods, while 20% allows for fun foods, what this means is that most of the time your try to pick the more fiber, vitamin, mineral packed whole foods, and look to balance macro nutrients on the daily bases. All while focusing on overall heath, and taking care of your needs beyond nutrition.
Examples:
Regular dieting would be saying : “This meal plan with these exact foods and these exact weights is to be consumed in this exact order.”
Flexible dieting sounds like: “Lets make your days balanced on the whole, this a loose idea of what it could look like, we can work with any fun foods you wish to add.”
Our goal is to show you how to respect your body and its needs with the use of our tailored Food Abundance approach We teach you how to eat intuitively and customize a flexible whole foods plant-based plan with the aim of facilitating a sustainable lifestyle change for good.
And that my friends – feels amazing for the mind, body and soul.
