When someone expresses dietary struggles to me, I often hear responses like "I need to be more disciplined" or "I feel so out of control, I need to get back on track." While it's advised to adapt a nutritious diet for health reasons, eating healthier should never become rigid and extreme. And unless you adapt your eating in a way that honors your hunger, makes you feel satiated and aligns with your personal health and activity goals, you may find yourself with a lot of food-related guilt, shame, deprivation, and a feeling of failure from an unstainable style of eating. Signs that your eating style may be too strict include: watching the clock for permission to eat having an off-limit food list only eating conditionally (ex. reward food) developing a fear of "bad" foods avoiding social situations involving food feeling constant hunger difficulty focusing, headaches or lightheadedness avoiding foods that you enjoy eliminating food groups or certain food...
3x Author, Board Certified Sports Dietitian, Master of Science in Exercise Physiology, 2017 IM CHOO Amateur Female Champion, 19xIronman finisher including 6xIM World Championship finisher, Triathlon Coach, 30-year Vegetarian.Trimarnicoach.com