Why "if I stop dieting I'll eat everything" is the biggest lie the Diet culture has ever told you

Let me take you back to a client call I had last week.

She'd tracked every single calorie that passed her lips.

For years.

And now?

She said to me, "I'm just going about my life. I'm not really thinking about food."

That's it.

That's the whole thing.

Not some big dramatic transformation.

Just...enjoying life and the mundane.

But I know what you're thinking, because I get told this constantly.

If I stopped dieting, I'd eat everything.

Ice cream for breakfast.

The whole packet of biscuits.

You won't, though.

You genuinely won't.

You've got free will right now, today.

You could have champagne for breakfast if you wanted to.

You don't, do you?

No.

So why would that change?

Why structure feels so safe (and why it never actually works)

Diets work at first. That's the whole trap of them.

Someone gives you a list of rules.

You follow it.

You're probably quite good at that bit, (type A, did well at school, likes being told what to do and doing it properly).

I see you.

Then life happens.

A rubbish week, a holiday, a school event, you get bored, you get stressed.

The rules go out the window and suddenly you're eating whatever, whenever, however and generally it's not even what you wanted.

That's not you being weak.

That's just what happens when the structure comes from someone else instead of from you.

Intuitive eating still has structure, by the way.

It's just built around different questions.

Am I hungry?

Am I full?

Am I actually stressed and not hungry at all?

Layers (as Mary Berry would say).

There's layers to it

Fierce compassion is not "put your feet up"

People hear "trust yourself" and think it means no plan, no effort, biscuits on the sofa watching daytime TV.

It's the opposite of that.

Fierce compassion is choosing the thing that's actually going to help you, even when the easy option is right there.

What am I eating today that's going to fuel me properly.

What am I doing today that I'll be glad about tomorrow.

That's what actually rebuilds trust.

One decision at a time.

"If it worked, everyone would already be doing it"

Would they, though?

The diet industry is worth billions and billions.

Every bit of that depends on you not trusting yourself, because the day you do, you stop needing the next plan, the next app, the next subscription.

There's no subscription with intuitive eating.

You learn it once and it's yours forever.

Which, funnily enough, isn't a great business model for anyone except you.

So, one decision.

That's all it takes to start.

If you're ready to stop going round the same patterns and actually do the work,

The Intuitive Table starts 14th September at Shropshire Health, Leaton.

It's eight weeks learning my 1-1 framework but in a small group, with women who have been doing the same thing as you for years.

It's £147 one off - for more info check out this page here.

To listen to me chat more and debunk some intuitive eating myths, head over to my podcast "Chatting with Cara" here or search for me where you get your podcasts from.