A Bold Experiment
Even though Diet Culture serves up an almost infinite list of rules and insults, we usually hear a specific few on repeat. These thoughts are so automatic we may not notice them anymore.
As intuitive eaters, we’re becoming more attuned to our bodies - when we’re hungry and full, which foods taste good to us, and what movement brings us pleasure - and we’re also increasing our awareness of our thoughts.
By naming our automatic negative thoughts (ANTs), we can start to question them, and then create a bold experiment to learn more. Try these three steps this week:
Name the ANT
Question It
Boldly experiment
Here are 3 examples of ANTs that come from my own and my clients’ experiences.
The Bread ANT
Name It: That sandwich will make you fat. You should eat a salad for lunch instead.
Question It: When I eat the salad, I end up feeling hungry a few hours later and don’t have access to food I want to eat which makes me cranky.
Boldly experiment: I’m going to eat a sandwich for lunch today and notice if I like the taste, how it makes me feel, and if my mood is better later in the day.
The Snack ANT
Name It: Snacking is unhealthy and makes you gain weight. You should wait until dinner to eat.
Question It: I’ve noticed that when I’m starving at dinnertime, I eat so much that I feel sick.
Boldly experiment: I’m going to try three different snacks this week and see how they make me feel.
The Processed Food ANT
Name It: You shouldn’t buy those chips. You’ll eat the whole bag and they’ll make you fat.
Question It: I wonder if I gave myself unconditional permission to eat as many chips as I wanted, if I’d want them so badly.*
Boldly Experiment: I’m going to buy my favorite kinds of chips for the next few weeks, and allow myself to eat as many of them as often as I want and see what happens
*The goal of giving ourselves unconditional permission to eat “forbidden foods” is to deepen our trust in our bodies and to create a more peaceful relationship with those foods, not to stop eating them.
Break the Diet Cycle
What are your automatic negative thoughts? Try writing them down. It’s normal to resist questioning them since they may have been telling you the same harmful rule or insult for decades. One of my ANTs was passed down from my beloved grandmother, so my bold experiment was to repeatedly reject the harmful words of someone I love. It got easier, and I believe that if she knew about the principles of intuitive eating, she’d agree that listening to our bodies, and not the harsh voice of Diet Culture, is empowering.
Our bold experiments help us gain information and courage to break the diet cycle.
Dieting and diet culture wouldn’t make sense if we simply accepted that people come in all different sizes.
Virgie Tovar
