As I’m sitting to write this, I find myself in a reflective mood – maybe it’s the changing of the seasons (summer is quickly coming to an end); or maybe it’s wondering if all of us humans are insane?

You know, the kind where we do the same thing over and over, expecting different results… that kind of insane.

Because when it comes to our health, – getting healthy, staying healthy, maintaining a healthy weight, fueling our bodies so we feel good, etc. – I’m seeing the same questions pop up over and over and over.

Not because we truly don’t know the answers (I think most people do), but because we want a different answer than the one we’ve been getting.

We don’t want to hear that getting healthy takes time; we don’t want to hear there’s no magic pill; we don’t want to hear that eating one salad isn’t going to cut it; we don’t want to hear that we’ll have to not only move our bodies today, but again the next day, and the next, and the next.

Where Fad Diets Come From

Instead, I think we keep asking the same questions because we want to hear someone has tried something new and *gasp* it worked!

And the best part is, they didn’t even have to do anything! Except take shots of vinegar everyday (just typing that phrase is vomit-inducing).

Or they got to eat whatever they wanted, all day, everyday… IF it fit their macros. Meaning they could eat cake every single day, but that was all they could eat because that cake used up all their allotted macros for the day.

Every single fad diet has worked for someone – likely it has worked for plenty of someones. But no fad diet will work for all people, and no fad diet will replace eating a balanced, nutrient dense, and calorie sufficient diet.

How Did We Get Here

For the record, I don’t actually think we’re all insane.

I think we’re all busy living our lives and doing the best we can, and in nearly every facet of life we’re being sold the best thing since sliced bread. The thing that’ll save you time and energy and sanity; the thing that sounds too good to be true but we’re so desperate we’ll try it anyways.

So when we’re asking the same questions over and over, maybe it’s not that we’re expecting a different answer, it’s that we’re HOPING for a different answer.

We’ve been over-sold on the idea that there’s always some new thing, new drug, new method that will get us to our desired outcome in less time. It’s no different with our health – we’ve come to expect that technology and scientific advancements will make up for the fact that we neglect ourselves.

Plus there’s just too much to keep up with! We’ve given up attempts to know how our bodies work because there’s just too much information out there (both real and made up) and it’s not realistic to keep up with the studies and advancements.

Only You Know Your Body

While I agree there’s an abundance of information out there, I’ll make the argument that only you know your body, only you know how you feel, only you can be the judge of it.

And it doesn’t take a nutrition degree to know that when you eat cake for lunch everyday for a week, there’s bound to be repercussions in terms of how you feel, your mood, your sleep, and your energy.

It doesn’t take an exercise science degree to know that when your only movement throughout the day is walking to and from the kitchen, you’re not doing yourself any favors. It will also affect how you feel, your mood, your sleep, your energy, and so on.

We’ve taken the information overload and turned it into an excuse to relieve ourselves of all responsibility for our health.

If only it worked that way…

There’s Magic In Responsibility

I don’t write this post to shame you, or anyone, for the lack of health related decisions being made on a regular basis. We’ve been brainwashed to think the diet industry actually has our best interest in mind, so we can let them tell us what to do and how to do it.

But with giving up that responsibility comes a lack of control, and with a lack of control we fall victim to circumstances rather than having the ability to take charge of our health.

So let this be a battle cry to take back control of your health!

Take back that connection to your food!

Don’t settle for anything less than listening to your own body to know what is and isn’t good for you.

Your body is so incredibly smart! I’m betting it’s just been a little while since you’ve listened to it, and that’s ok! It’s still on your side and it’ll keep trying to tell you what it needs.

There’s no wrong time to foster that deeper connection with yourself. FEELING how various foods make you feel; LISTENING to when you need to rest and when you’re ready to go.

The deeper that connection, the more I bet you’ll find yourself getting back to the root of things you already know make you feel better – eating real food and in appropriate-for-you quantities; moving your body more; fully resting and recharging more often.

And the more you do those things, the better and better you’re going to feel. No fad diet required; no fancy degree required; just a willingness to listen to yourself more.