[ScarletPimpernel]

Does therapy help with diet?

Right now my doctor is focused on me quitting smoking. But next month we are doing an A1C test and I know it's going to come out bad. I'm guessing that's when she'll want me to start working on my diet. And by working on diet I mean lowering my carbs; not necessarily losing weight.

L has helped, a little, with quitting smoking. She keeps me accountable and encourages me. Otherwise she has no experience or expertise in helping to quit. I don't think L has any experience or expertise in helping with dieting either. I was thinking though that maybe she can help the same way she's helping me with smoking? Maybe I can keep a food journal/log and have her go over it with me? I don't need her to know anything specific about nutrition. I already know what I'm supposed to do and not do.

Has therapy helped anyone with their diet? How?

[NatalieJastrow]

Yes. Many people who have tried the carnivore diet have said it helps with mental health. Personally I find too many carbs can set off horrible anxiety.

Reddit has a wealth of people willing to give advice. Keto / Intermittant fasting etc.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Oh, I'm not looking for a specific diet. I've tried a bunch, and it just doesn't work for me. I guess the closest thing I'm going for is the Mediterranean diet. But my goal is actually the diabetic diet: 30/30/45 and 15 for snacks. I've seen a lot of nutritionists and this is what all have suggested to me.

[Mountaindewed]

My therapist and I talk about healthy eating. one of my goals is for her to help me to eat better. She made me a food log/list and we discuss things each week.

I feel like I am actually getting legit help now with my eating habits now that this current therapist understands that you can be at a smaller weight and size and can lose weight and still be healthy and it doesn't mean anything bad. But we are focusing more on the healthy eating part then the weight loss part.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

My therapist and I talk about healthy eating. one of my goals is for her to help me to eat better. She made me a food log/list and we discuss things each week.

I feel like I am actually getting legit help now with my eating habits now that this current therapist understands that you can be at a smaller weight and size and can lose weight and still be healthy and it doesn't mean anything bad. But we are focusing more on the healthy eating part then the weight loss part.

Do you just discuss your food log like what you ate or plan to eat? Do you ever talk about mood or feelings or events that correspond to your eating?
.
I'll also be focusing on being healthy, not losing weight. I'm actually just focusing on my blood sugars.Weight will come off naturally.

[Mountaindewed]

Yeah we discuss what I plan on eating and what I have been eating. We do discuss my moods and how they impact what I eat. I told her at my last session that if I did not feel good I was not even going to try to force myself to eat and she seemed respectful of that. We talk a lot about how I don't eat when I'm anxious or feeling sick and then we figure out foods I think I'll be able to handle both physically and emotionally.

[susannahsays]

My experience is less to do with blood sugar and more to do with losing weight.

I haven't found my therapist helpful in this arena. She doesn't seem to understand that the problem isn't my diet, it's that I am basically bedridden and am not burning even 1200 calories every day - which is supposedly the lowest you're supposed to go.

I realize that changing diet is usually more important for losing weight than adding exercise, but that's not the situation here. And it's not even adding exercise, it's being out of bed and doing any movement.

It's really hard. I tend to avoid diets that require counting calories or points, like with weight watchers. I had an ED in high school and I'm scared of falling back into restricting if I start counting and it taking over my life. I also can't shake my distrust of dieticians because the association in my mind is that they make me gain weight, because that has been my experience.

I'll probably do keto again starting next month. That's the only diet I've tried that allows me to eat when I'm completely sedentary.

[ScarletPimpernel]

With Keto, I just couldn't get enough fats in me. I'm pretty sure I was never in ketosis. They now have a breathalyzer to measure if you are.

Counting/limiting carbs has worked for me. I almost got my diabetes under control. My A1C was 5.8. It's supposed to be below 5.7. Right now I think I'm in the high 7's.

I know what I'm supposed to do...I just don't do it.

[NatalieJastrow]

Originally Posted by ScarletPimpernel

With Keto, I just couldn't get enough fats in me. I'm pretty sure I was never in ketosis. They now have a breathalyzer to measure if you are.

Fasting can also get you in Ketosis. But Carnivore / keto is considered to also help with mental health due to an increase in amino acids in meat/ protiens.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I'm not looking for diet advice. I'm looking for therapy experience or techniques that have helped.

[NatalieJastrow]

Originally Posted by ScarletPimpernel

I'm not looking for diet advice. I'm looking for therapy experience or techniques that have helped.

I guess I am saying that therapy could help but keto and meat can allow you to be physically more able to control your diet. And of course have stronger mental health.

As you noted you have a high A1c it would seem particularly important you get the sugar down.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Originally Posted by NatalieJastrow

I guess I am saying that therapy could help but keto and meat can allow you to be physically more able to control your diet. And of course have stronger mental health.

As you noted you have a high A1c it would seem particularly important you get the sugar down.

Please stop commenting on my diet or trying to force your idea of a diet on me. This is a psychotherapy thread, and I'm looking for psychotherapy advice. If I wanted advice about my diet, I'd consult with an actual doctor (which I already have).

[divine1966]

I am not sure how therapist could help with diets unless they specialize on eating and food related issues.

Other than that I think they could maybe be like a support system encouraging you etc

But even then it could be tricky. Unless they are experts in the field, I am not sure how they could help with food log? Like how do they know what’s right for your specific health? In fact even if they are just being encouraging and supportive, they might be encouraging wrong foods! Therapists shouldn’t comment on foods unless they are trained in the field

Smoking is more straight forward. Food is tricky. How does therapist know what choices are good?

I’d just work with a doctor and not expect therapist to help with diets. Unless therapist works in a team with your doctor/nutrionist

[waterlogged]

My therapist and I have talked a lot about my food and body issues, though not specially about diets. Taming the self-loathing has helped with my food issues. Also the more satisfied I am with my relationships, the less I need to focus on getting that feeling of “fullness” from food. In my experience, there can be a tendency to “catastrophize” or engage in really black/white thinking around food, and my therapist has definitely helped challenge some of those engrained patterns.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Originally Posted by waterlogged

My therapist and I have talked a lot about my food and body issues, though not specially about diets. Taming the self-loathing has helped with my food issues. Also the more satisfied I am with my relationships, the less I need to focus on getting that feeling of “fullness” from food. In my experience, there can be a tendency to “catastrophize” or engage in really black/white thinking around food, and my therapist has definitely helped challenge some of those engrained patterns.

Thank you for this!

Yes, this helps! This sort of thing is what I'm hoping for with L. I don't need her to understand the food or numbers or anything health wise. But I'd like her to help with the psychological aspects: my relationship with food.

I think a food log will help because right now, I'm eating in secret. I hide what I eat and when from everyone including H. They see me eat meals, but everything else I hide. Being open about it with L will hopefully keep me accountable.

[ElectricManatee]

One of my therapists has touched on body neutrality (since body positivity wasn't resonating with me) and mindful eating (sort of an extension of mindfulness in DBT). I think understanding your motivations and patterns around eating can be helpful. That doesn't require any specialized diet expertise but rather the same curiosity you both would bring to understanding anything about your life.

[divine1966]

Good points about therapist looking at general relationship with food rather than commenting on specific foods. I think I am suspicious of people commenting about other people’s food choices (unless they are specialists). But in the context you described it makes sense since she won’t be commenting on the diet choices

[ScarletPimpernel]

Originally Posted by ElectricManatee

One of my therapists has touched on body neutrality (since body positivity wasn't resonating with me) and mindful eating (sort of an extension of mindfulness in DBT). I think understanding your motivations and patterns around eating can be helpful. That doesn't require any specialized diet expertise but rather the same curiosity you both would bring to understanding anything about your life.

This is definitely what I hope to do with L. I would like to learn to be comfortable in my own skin. And I would like to learn to make new habits and break old habits. And I like how you say body neutrality. That really resonates.