The term ’Non-Diet’ is one you will often see used by health professionals and advocates who encourage approaches to health and wellbeing that are contrary to popular messages promoting restrictive weight loss diets.
Many of the team at Mind Body Well were fortunate to be introduced to the non-diet world by Dr Rick Kausman, author of ‘If Not Dieting Then What?’ and one of the pioneers of the non-diet movement. The title of Rick’s book sums up well what many of our clients are asking…. “I’ve tried restrictive weight loss diets and they haven’t worked for me, so what now?”
Well… the first step to ‘what now’ is to move our focus away from weight toward a priority for health and wellbeing. By ‘health’ we mean the true concept of considering what’s good for us on a holistic and inclusive level, as opposed to the ‘clean eating’ version of health which is really just another version of diet-speak.
The concept of heath we non-diet practitioners are interested in, is one which considers the choices we make that are good for us as a whole person – psychologically, physically, and socially. Some people argue that restrictive weight loss diets are ‘healthy’ – but we’d suggest anything that makes a person obsess over everything they eat, causes them to avoid social eating situations, and reinforces a belief that ‘I will be a better person if I’m a different weight, shape or size’… well that really doesn’t ring true on the level of holistic health and wellbeing.
How does the non-diet approach work?
Many people we see at Mind Body Well come to us ready to step off the dieting treadmill, wanting to try something new. Over the next few blog posts we will be exploring each of these concepts in more detail. As a ‘taster’, here are some of the things we believe can help us move away from the dieting culture:
A focus on Wellbeing rather than Weight
An attitude of Self Care and Body Acceptance
Developing Intuitive Eating awareness and skills
Learning to listen to your body and understand it’s needs
Developing a non-judgemental understanding the many and varied reasons we eat
Even our Dietitians are Non-Diet practitioners!
Sounds odd right, given the word is right there in their title… but rather than giving you yet another restrictive weight loss diet, our very talented Dietitians can help you understand your nutritional needs and consider your eating behaviours from a mind-body-wellbeing perspective. They’re really in the business of helping you improve your relationship with food and with your body… not in giving you yet another diet. Our Dietitians are registered with the Dietitians Association of Australia, and they have extensive experience supporting a wide range of clients.
If you’re ready for a non-diet approach to health and wellbeing, fill in the New Client Request form at the link below and we’ll be in touch to help get you started.