I’m not a fan of diets. I rarely advocate going on any type of ‘diet’.
But this is different.
This is a diet I believe everyone should try. Even using it as a cleanse or a detox every few days, weeks or months will benefit you in ways you couldn’t fathom from any other fad eating plan.
Now, there is no cutting out of certain food groups, no time limits to your meals and no strange rituals before you cook. You’re also going to lose a different type of weight to what you would from most diets.
The weight you will loose is the type of weight you feel when you see images of people frolicking around in bikinis when you’ve just downed one too many Bliss Balls. This weight holds you back from enjoying yourself around others because you’re too interested what people you don’t know are doing. You’re going to feel lighter in your mind, because it will no longer be filled with everyone else highlight reel.
It’s a social media diet.
Now before you’re all like “I wanna loose kilos so I’m not bothering to read ahead”, please just give this a few more moments of your time. Also, if you believe the weight off your hips is more important than the weight off your shoulders, we may need to have a chat. You can book it in here.
Lets break this down into virtually digestible chunks (like what I did there?).
Stop comparing yourself to Insta-celebs and delete the bikini body screen shots you’ve got saved as ‘thin-spo’.
Despite Instagram being a mobile phone app, do not be fooled. Those people who seem to live their life at the beach on holidays generally use a great camera and several photo editing apps to make everything look a little more sparkly than real life.
Some people are lucky enough to be living a life they absolutely love. If you’re not lucky enough to be prepping raw desserts in your spare time or shopping as an integral part of your business success, you need to find a way to make the life your living the best you can possibly make it. This doesn’t mean a sea change or a major career adjustment, it means working out what it is that makes you feel full and vibrant and finding ways to add more and more of it into your everyday life.
Even people whose lives seem bigger than the universe are simply people. Some are beautiful on the inside and out and some are perfectly imperfect. Don’t be fooled into putting these people on a pedestal, stripped down we’re all pretty much made of the same stuff in slightly different packages.
Reduce your intake of junk.
Junk being the mental version of fast food.
It seems like a good idea, kind of tempting to read those posts with headlines that scream “relate to me!” while also implying that life is hard for us all and we can group together to complain as a collective.
Stop right there.
Don’t bother reading into the ‘poor me’ junk material. If you have a home, food in your belly and access to the ocean or a beautiful park to ground your feet at, you have the basis to create a pretty awesome existence.
Reading into that stuff doesn’t lift you up, so it’s really of no benefit. Look for material that makes you feel like anything is possible, words that inspire and images that light you up inside.
Do a social media cleanse.
Go through and unfollow any accounts that aren’t benefiting you as a person. If it’s not making you happy, feel better or want to be better - feel free to unfollow immediately.
Something happens physically when we see an image that we don’t want to. Our muscles tighten slightly and this creates a wave of tension that effects our adrenals and releases less than ideal stress hormones through our body. Our mood is effected, some of us will stress eat or partake in other damaging activities and there is really no benefit to any party involved.
When you’re finished your social media diet, you can then come back to see positive and uplifting images, articles and updates that will make you feel good.
I really encourage you to try this. Either for a day, a week or even just scheduling two hours of 'social media free time’ everyday. It has completely changed the high anxiety levels of some of my most self critical clients and I can guarantee you will find yourself relishing in the moment that is and being far more present for your friends and family.
Let me know how you find it by commenting below!
If you're having trouble with social media 'comparison-itis' yourself, lets book in a 1:1 session to see if having me as your Integrative Nutrition Health Coach could help you to find a more positive, happy + healthy way to think and live. Click HERE for more information.