Time for a reset?

I’ve found myself doom scrolling on Facebook lately. 

We’ve recently moved which has prompted a flurry of activity on Facebook marketplace. I normally don’t like to hang out in Zuckerburg’s world, but I made the exception so we could unload our stuff. 

Whenever I check one of my “for sale” listings, I inevitably see the first story in my Facebook feed. Those evil geniuses know how to suck you down their rabbit hole. It really is hard to stop at that first story and the doom scrolling begins. 

Yesterday, the top post was from a friend who had my scrolling thumb hovering in mid-air after I read her announcement: “day one ready to reset, no gluten, dairy, sugar, wheat, coffee or alcohol for 30 days wish me luck!!!”

My heart sank as I read the over 60 comments which sounded mostly like this:

“You got this!”

“Good luck!”

“Gooooood for you!”

“Get it girlfriend.”

“Yay! Starting something similar!”

“Proud of you.”

Only one friend came back with the comment that made me stop cringing.

“Girl, tell them how you feel tho.”

I literally talked to my phone and said, “yaaaassss girl, HOW DO YOU FEEL??” I hate it when inanimate objects don’t answer to me so I waggered a guess that the words suck and crap were in her answer. News flash: IT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD TO STARVE YOURSELF or deny your body the nutrients she needs to function optimally. 

Here's the crazy thing with diets, cleanses, resets and fasts. As women, we've been conditioned to think that not only is it possible to permanently alter our shape, but it's laudable and a sign of our "strength" and commitment to our "health".  A badge of our womanhood if you will. A rite of passage into some mystic place of honor.

The only badge of honor that you get after dieting (if you're 95-98% of those who try dieting) is a big fancy F badge for failure. 

Not you though, my Mind Body Mondays friend. You’re smarter than most when it comes to understanding food and your body. You might be tempted to dip your toe back into diet culture’s pool (which is as addicting as Zuck’s rabbit hole), but you won’t because you know it’s juuuuuust not worth your sanity. 

When (not if) you hear a friend talking about embarking on their latest “plan” in the name of whatever diet culture has brainwashed her into thinking she’ll achieve (strength, love, courage, respect). Don’t wish her luck. 

Warn her. 

Tell her that you’ve heard that cleanses can actually be really dangerous for her health and can make digestion even worse**. Tell her you think she’s amazing just the way she is. And if she clings to her cleanse, that’s her choice and one that you can look at with a good for her, but not good for me mindset. 

Thankfully, I have my last couple of items for sale and I can stop losing my precious time and energy on that all too tempting scrolling. When I’m off social media, I’m reminded how much better I feel. Just like when I finally stopped dieting, I realized how much better I felt physically and mentally. 

**PS. Cutting back on alcohol or caffeine is different from food group elimination. In this post, I’m referring to the dangers of food, not alcohol or caffeine alterations.