From skwigg's journal:
Here's a quote from Georgie in another journal:
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It's okay to have those thoughts to "come back to the dark side". And look at it this way, if you take a stab at rapid weight loss again, just tune into your results. Does it make you lean and happy? Or bingey and irritable? If it works, keep doing it.
As long as you tune into your outcomes, don't be afraid to make mistakes. If you have an overwhelming desire to crash diet, give it a whirl.
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It's a strange notion, but the more you tell yourself that you can't diet, shouldn't lose weight quickly, or aren't allowed to _____ (skip meals, eliminate foods, or whatever crazy thing you're pondering), the more you want to do it! The more you resent not being able to do it. Banning it only makes it more appealing. "All those other people are going on the 30-day bikini diet and getting amazing results."
Hey, if you want to live on grapefruit, boiled eggs, and green juice for a few weeks, go for it. Like Georgie and Dr Phil say, "How's that working for you?" If you feel great and love the results, no problem. If you last a day and a half, get a splitting headache, faint on the treadmill, and binge on donuts and fried chicken, you've still learned something valuable.
Not eating something is kind of the same as eating it, at least in the sense that you want to give yourself complete freedom to choose, and then own that choice. You're always free to do whatever you want, and that's empowering.
In my case, even after I'd arrived at pretty happy non-dieting headspace, I'd still be tempted. I still took dieting for a whirl a few times. I was very drawn to intermittent fasting. I did that for a few months, but I didn't lose much weight and I missed breakfast. Then I read a bunch of vegan books and decided maybe that was the ultimate miracle weight solution I'd been looking for, not a diet but a whole new lifestyle! That lasted for a few months too. I didn't lose any weight and I was ready to kill for cheese, ice cream, and BBQ ribs, or really and kind of animal carcass with bones. You can probably guess what happened next. Paleo! Maybe that was the ultimate miracle weight solution I'd been looking for! Maybe I'd found my people and a whole new way of life! Nah, what happened is I didn't lose any weight and I started daydreaming about robbing bakeries. I went nuts on bread and pasta for weeks afterward. Pre-paleo, I hadn't eaten them often or given them much thought. So that totally backfired.
I'm glad I let myself try whatever dietary approach I wanted though. This way I'm not guessing, or resisting, or speculating. I know. There's nothing magical out there. Nothing works as well as patience, consistency, and moderation. Yawn. But I keep proving it to myself over and over again.
Sometimes I'm still tempted to try a new diet or scheme that I've read about. And I will try it! If I see a tasty looking Paleo recipe, or the ultimate clean eating meal plan, I may give it a whirl for a meal or a day to see if I like it and might want to do more of it. Usually I don't. Usually once is enough, thank you. But sometimes something will stick and really work for me and I'll incorporate it into my flexible template.