Have you ever tried to quit your diet and then lost control on food? Here’s Why (And What To About It!)

Or even more frustrating…ended up gaining more weight? :/

I remember going through this vicious cycle over and over again and being so clueless about how to stop it. If you’re like most of us in the 21st century, problems mean one thing: get to Google and hit “search” anddddd that sometimes leaves you more confused than you were before.

In today’s world, you’ll find health coaches and fitness influencers everywhere telling you to STOP dieting. Then they replace diets with strategies “intuitive eating” and “listening to your body.”

This fundamentally is a GOOD thing (because we all know diets don’t for lasting change!). But there is a flip side to this “anti-diet” culture that just might blow your mind (and lead to disaster)…

I myself am a HUGE fan of dropping the diet, but unfortunately, quitting a diet cold turkey for “intuitive eating” can backfire big-time.

It can ultimately make you pack on the pounds, feel defeated, and go right back to what you know best…Dieting. (Only to have the entire cycle repeat itself again…UGH)

I don’t want this to happen to YOU because it only leaves you feeling demotivated about all the efforts you’ve taken previously that were actually setting you out on a new path.

Now that’s the bad news, but the good news is…

There IS a way to break the diet cycle for good without the side effects. You can let go of dieting and upgrade your relationship with food WITHOUT losing control on it and gaining a bunch of weight, and I’m about to share how-to’s in this week’s blog…

Let’s back up for a second and talk about why breaking out of the diet cycle is so important.

Restricting your food (i.e. a diet) causes some funky changes in your brain. It wires your brain into what we call “survival mode.” Your brain thinks that food is scarce. So it triggers you to think about food, have more cravings, and feel compulsive urges to eat.

Then you eat more, slow down your metabolism, stress your body out, gain more weight. All the things that you don’t want! This is why diets from Keto to Atkins and back again just don’t work.

You see, if you’ve been in the diet world for a long time, dieting is all you know. So when you try to stop cold, you’re left in unfamiliar territory. Which can lead you down a scary path if you’re not careful.

After years of food rules and restrictions, what happens when just like that, anything goes?

You realize that you don’t know what to do without the diet rules. Then you get scared. Then you realize that you still have those compulsive urges to eat. And lo and behold, all those forbidden foods are now allowed…

There are three main phases to our step-by-step process.

Phase 1: Take care of your needs FIRST. Your body’s needs come first. So make sure that you’re eating enough food to support it! This means eating meals that leave you feeling warm-bellied, grounded, and ready to go about your day.

Let’s be real. Those “little meals” you read about in Cosmopolitan magazine that supposedly speed up your metabolism actually don’t. A meal should always leave you satisfied, and, an apple and six almonds aren’t gonna do it.

Now, the end goal is to go from restriction to inclusion with food. But it doesn’t happen in one day! Here’s how to re-balance your meals in a gradual, healthy way.

Let’s say you’ve been doing a Keto-like diet and seriously cutting carbs. Quitting the diet and immediately gorging on pizza and french fries (just because you can) is not the way to go! Here’s what to do instead.

Look at the meals you’ve been eating, notice what you’ve cut out, and gradually add in those foods. If your low-carb diet is leaving you cold, choose a food that would make you feel that warm-bellied satisfaction. Then add it in, a little bit at a time.

The idea is to round out your meals in a balanced way. We’re not talking “all or nothing” with any kind of food. Go for reaching a satisfying balance instead, and do it one step at a time.

Phase 2: Break the cycle (it’s all in your head!) Now, I’m not implying that you’re crazy. I’m saying that urges to binge really are all in your head. Your brain, that is!

Say that you’ve gotten through Phase 1 and you’re feeling pretty good about food. Your body’s needs are being met, and you’re feeling satiated and grounded. You even feel confident enough to allow yourself a little bit of the foods that used to trigger you.

Now you need to get to the source of those binge urges, which are the habitual patterns in your brain. The ones that cause you to reach for food when you probably need something else.

Where did those patterns come from?

You see, what you do regularly eventually becomes automatic. You brush your teeth and drive to work every day without thinking about it. If you walked the same path across a grassy field enough, you’d eventually beat down a path. The same principle goes for food-based behavior.

If you’ve been dieting, survival mode and binge urges are all your brain knows. Sure, you can stop physically dieting. But if your mental patterns don’t change, you’ll still be thinking (and eventually behaving) like a serial dieter all over again.

So what do you do about it?

The key is breaking the patterns in your brain that trigger you to binge, and replace them with healthy and supportive patterns. When you break old patterns and shift the way you relate to food, magic happens.

No more waking up and “will powering” your way through the day. Your natural hunger-fullness cues return. You make supportive food choices without even trying. You can even allow yourself to enjoy special food occasions without worry!

Best of all, your body starts to trust you again. It knows you will feed and care for it properly, and doesn’t have to use fear-based survival tactics like cravings and binge urges anymore.

Phase 3: Connecting To And Honoring Your Body. Your natural hunger-fullness cues have returned. You’re rebuilding trust with your body. Now you’re able to connect to and honor your body, and make supportive food choices for life!

This means knowing when the supportive choice is a salad and knowing when it’s a dinner out with friends. You can allow yourself a little freedom without fear. You can support yourself physically with food, and also mentally and emotionally. That’s what we call Food Freedom Forever!

Now, let’s get into the bonus phase that could truly take your healing journey to new heights…

Phase 4: The Deep Stuff. Last but not least, this step can really put you over the top: the deep work. I’m talking about recognizing and healing emotional patterns and triggers that keep you stuck (sometimes without your knowledge).

Not everyone is willing to go there. But let me tell you, if you do, your results will be so much more empowering.

Now, a quick disclaimer: you don’t have to heal every emotional trauma before you start healing your relationship with food. I can tell you that I was a total mess when I started my journey. I had no money, lived on my friend’s couch, just got out of a horrendously toxic relationship–you get the picture. But still, I was able to stop binging and start healing.

However, the deep work made my journey so much more fulfilling and rewarding!

I learned a lot when I took the time to go deeper. I realized that I’d been putting my worth in my appearance. I tried everything to my body size, and to someone else’s idea of beauty.

I also learned to simply be with emotional triggers when they came up, and without turning to food. I learned to let go of my limiting beliefs, the ones that made my entire life all about what I ate and how I looked.

Now, I repeat–you don’t have to have your emotions and beliefs totally sorted out before you start the phases. But including this work will truly empower you to become the best version of yourself.

So these are the phases to take you from diet-obsessed to food freedom! Eating adequately, ending survival mode, and breaking old patterns is 90% of it. Healing emotions and limiting beliefs is a beautiful addition to take you the rest of the way!

The path to food freedom forever can be scary, especially if dieting has been your M.O. all your life. After all, if you quit the diet and don’t know what to do next, the default is going back to what you know–the diet.

But I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to do this alone!

Click the image below where I’ve got a special gift for you! We call them, “Craving Cards”, and they’re one of our most popular tools!

If you ever feel night time cravings, sugar cravings, the urge to just say “screw it I’m going to start my diet over tomorrow”, or like you need a little body confidence pick me up… 

Just grab a card, go through the prompts, and shift it instantly!

Click the image above and let me know where to send them!

You’ll also get mini demo video training sessions for each card where I share how to use the cards and some of my best tips for food freedom forever!

With our Craving Cards and Demo Series… 

You’ll learn how to stop cravings in their tracks, feel confident, and get back your power, fast! 

Love,
Brittany

PS: Want the exact freedom and ease with our foods that myself and thousands of our clients get to experience?

In our Beating Binge Eating Blueprint (BBEB), I show you how to make this happen in just 8 weeks!

Many of our students have seen a DRASTIC difference in as little as a few days!

It’s our signature program, and up until recently, it was $3000 or more to join.

For now, you can get it as a part of our Food Freedom Collection for practically free by clicking the image below!

There is no catch…every resource I’ve created for food freedom and body confidence will land straight in your if you just click that image below and let me know where to send it!