How My Opinion on Dieting Completely Changed

 For a long time, I thought dieting was the answer to everything. Control. Confidence. Worth. Health. I thought if I could just be disciplined enough, I’d finally feel okay in my body and in my life.

I was wrong.

This post is about how my relationship with food shifted completely, from rigid rules and fear, to trust, nourishment, and a more holistic way of eating. It’s also about recovery, unlearning diet culture, and finding my way back to myself

My AN Story (Starting at 16)

I was 16 when my relationship with food stopped being just about food.

What started as “eating healthier” and “being disciplined” slowly turned into obsession. Numbers, rules, guilt, and fear took up more and more space in my head. I didn’t have the language for it back then, but I was deep in anorexia nervosa.

Dieting gave me a false sense of control at a time when I felt overwhelmed and disconnected, from my body, my emotions, and the world around me. People praised my willpower. No one saw how loud my mind had become, or how small my life was getting.

Food wasn’t fuel anymore. It was a moral test. A measure of my worth.

And the thing no one really tells you? The “control” never feels like enough. The rules just keep tightening.

Why Dieting Stopped Working (If It Ever Did)

At some point, I had to be honest with myself: dieting wasn’t making me healthier. It was making me anxious, disconnected, and exhausted.

Physically, my body was constantly stressed. Mentally, food was all I thought about. Emotionally, I felt numb and irritable, like joy had been turned down a few notches.

I started learning something that felt radical at the time: most diets are designed to fail. Not because people lack willpower, but because restriction, especially long-term, goes against how the human body and brain are wired.

The more I tried to control my body, the more it pushed back.

What’s Coming Next

This post is just the beginning. In future posts, I’ll be sharing more about holistic health, intuitive eating, and what it looks like to care for your body without control, guilt, or extremes.

I want to talk honestly about rebuilding trust with food, listening to your body, mental health, movement that feels good, and unlearning the stuff diet culture drilled into so many of us.

If you’re curious about a more gentle, sustainable approach to health or you’re somewhere on your own healing journey, I hope you’ll stick around 🤍

Gal xx

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