“Mommy, you don’t like eating pizza with me anymore?”

This question coming from my 3 year old daughter was like a stab in the heart. Now, I don’t particularly even like pizza all that much. But I do enjoy a Friday night pizza with my family every now and then. On this particular night, I was eating a low carb chicken dish because my husband and I had been doing keto for about three weeks.

I’ve been a chronic yo-yo dieter over the last ten years. I’ve done everything from counting calories to keto, but I have found myself getting REALLY sucked into the numbers and planning. I’d find myself laying in bed, watching videos about my diet, looking up recipes, going to the grocery store daily to find “the next best thing” for my diet, and tracking every crumb.

When I’m dieting, I am not fun to be around. I can’t stop talking about what I’m eating or plan on eating. (Sorry if you were anywhere near me for those 3 weeks.) I have tried my best to not talk about my food or diet around my children, but even then…they wonder why they can eat their meal but I can’t try it. I had the self-awareness to be able to call myself out, declare a time out, and look for help.

Of course, I went to my trusty Instagram following first. I wanted to share how I was feeling and ask how others have felt about dieting or how they’ve overcome these feelings. The results and love that rolled in were amazing. I’m sharing some of the tips that were coming in!

I’ve already taken the first step and followed through on some of the advice. I will definitely give a follow up on how things are going for me, but for now, you can see the tips I received below.

Tips & Resources from My Followers

• Focus on what you can ADD, not what you need to take away
• Increase movement / add in exercise
• Practice “intuitive eating”
• Do weekdays on a diet / weekends off
• Try intermittent fasting
• Focus your anger on “Big Food” and eat more WHOLE foods
• Go to therapy
• Consult a dietitian or nutritionist
• Try Beachbody (where the focus isn’t on “numbers”)
• Focus on a macro percentage instead of counting numbers
• Listen to “The Maintenance Phase” podcast
• Books to read:
  • “Ridiculously Big Salad” – Amanda Rose
  • “In Defense of Food” – Michael Pollan
  • “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Food” – Aubrey Gordon
• Suggested Instagrams
  • @collab.counseling
  • @findfoodfreedom
• Medications (please consult your doctor)
  • Mounjaro
  • Wegovy

I hope that if you’re feeling a similar way, get stuck in diet ruts or can’t turn your brain off to think about other things or enjoy life, that you can take a tip or two from the list above. I’m rooting for you! I can’t wait to tell you about what I’ve been up to lately. One or more of these things have been really helping to change my mindset.