How does dieting actually encourage overconsumption? Are you mindful of where the emphasis is? What can you do to love and respect yourself and your body? In this podcast episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini speaks about overconsumption, not restricting, in dieting with Wendy Faracchio.

MEET WENDY FARACCHIO

Wendy is a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer who coaches people on improving their health and relationship with food with a weight-neutral and behavior-focused approach. She is intuitive eating aligned and believes food should be a source of happiness and energy, not guilt and anxiety. Through her proven framework in her signature program, The Wellness Workshop, she’s helped many people ditch the dieting mentality and truly find health and satisfaction with an “all foods fit” approach.

Visit Wellness By Wendy and connect on Instagram and TikTok.

Email her at wendy@wellnessbywendy.com

IN THIS PODCAST

  • Be mindful of where the emphasis is
  • The secretive overconsumption in diet culture
  • Your body wants balance

Be mindful of where the emphasis is

Where is the focus of your thoughts? What is the intention of your actions around eating and moving your body? Is it to control or manage calories, or to feed, nourish, and care for your body This awareness is also key when you are working with medical professionals.
[Maybe] their emphasis has been on counting calories and weight loss… [it can be] very difficult to find dieticians and nutritionists that were not focused on weight loss. (Dr. Castagnini)
Some dieticians or nutritionists may still place more focus on numbers than on the quality of life, so be careful of your focus as well as the focus of those that are giving you advice.

The secretive overconsumption in diet culture

It’s really in the action. It's almost like the logistics of it … where we are taking alternatives and swap versions of things and we’re overconsuming them way more than [if] we had just had what we wanted, and it’s almost encouraged in diet culture. (Wendy Faracchio)
Diet culture is not always about having less. Sneakily it also encourages you to have more, and more than you normally would of a type of food, just to encourage you to purchase more or to buy into the culture itself. For example, some companies will advertise a whole product like low-calorie ice cream as “consumable in one sitting compared” to its “unhealthier” alternative.
It’s encouraging overconsumption because it’s “healthier” and therefore acceptable. But having a regular pint of ice cream, eating the entire thing would not be encouraged or even generally accepted. (Wendy Faracchio)
Remember that higher calorie content in foods does not make it something that is “unhealthy”. Therefore, low-calorie content foods are then not a straightforward “healthy” alternative.
[The] foods that get the axe right away [are the ones that] are typically higher calorie so we avoid those … so we pick “diet” foods and then we end up eating more because you were looking for satisfaction in it [but there is none]. (Wendy Faracchio)

Your body wants balance

There is no golden rule. There is no shortcut, no quick fix, no easy way out, no pill or diet or program. If you want to have a good relationship with your body, with your eating habits, and with yourself, you have to show up each day with patience, self-love, and self-respect. Feed your body like the complex organism it is that needs a variety of different nutrients and minerals to thrive while being mindful of your humanity, emotions, and cravings. You can eat well and healthily without restricting yourself – no matter what anyone says.
All in all, spreading things out in normal amounts, that’s going to be the best way for your body to handle the food that you’re eating, [to] take out what it needs. (Wendy Faracchio)

USEFUL LINKS

MEET DR. CRISTINA CASTAGNINI

  I am a licensed Psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. While I may have over 20 years of clinical experience, what I also have is the experience of having been a patient who had an eating disorder as well. One thing that I never had during all of my treatment was someone who could look me in the eye and honestly say to me "hey, I've been there. I understand". Going through treatment for an eating disorder is one of the hardest and scariest things to do. I remember being asked to do things that scared me. Things I now know ultimately helped me to get better. But, at the time, I had serious doubts and fears about it. If even one of my providers had been able to tell me "I know it's scary, but I had to go through that part too. Here's what will probably happen...." then perhaps I would not have gone in and out of treatment so many times. My own experience ultimately led me to specialize in treating eating disorders. I wanted to be the therapist I never had; the one who "got it". I will be giving you my perspective and information as an expert and clinician who has been treating patients for over 2 decades. But don't just take my word for it...keep listening to hear the truly informative insights and knowledge guest experts have to share. I am so happy you are here!

THANKS FOR LISTENING

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