I wrote something like this before, but here we go again….

There are two main reasons people diet and get obsessed with food.

#1. They want to be smaller

#2. They want to be healthier

#1 one is easier to diagnose and fairly straight-forward to convince people out of, even though emotionally, it can be incredibly difficult to heal.

#1’s biggest challenge? Short story: Accept not needing to be skinny, and release your control of your weight.

BUT, the second one is really hard to convince people out of. Isn’t health a noble goal? Isn’t it good to try and eat healthfully? Isn’t it good to cut out bad foods? Isn’t it worthwhile to try and improve our bodies? How can we justify eating unhealthy foods? How can we justify letting go of the desire for good health?

Yea. Health is a noble goal. And yes, we all deserve good health. And, yes, the time you have spent seeking health is justified. It makes sense. It all stems from a place of self-love- which is great.

But you know if you are the person who took it too far, who mixed a little too much fear into your self-love. Who now is obsessed with purity and desperate for health. Someone who is miserable searching for health. And unhealthy anyway.

Here is the thing: We can’t always know what will lead us to health. Our bodies are smarter than we think, and more complex than a computer or an algebraic equation. Most of the time, our attempts at perfect health backfire and make us worse. They slow us down, they ignore intuition, they raise our stress hormones, they make us miserable and more sick. You know if this is you.

So, what is the hardest part about healing #2?

#2’s biggest challenge is letting go of the Holy Grail of Perfect Health.

Let go of needing to be incredibly healthy.

It sounds crazy. It sounds irresponsible. But I promise, as someone who used to seek perfect health to no avail, it is freeing.

Perfect Health is a moving target anyway. Our bodies are always in flux, always cycling, always changing. And what’s more…for some of us, perfect health doesn’t even exist.

I am not telling you to “DECIDE TO BECOME UNHEALTHY”. No. I am just encouraging you, paradoxically, for your health and your sanity, to let GO.

Let GO of your desperation to become incredibly healthy. Because only then can you actually seek balanced health, in a way that doesn’t stem from fear and self-obsession.

Even when I started the Fuck It Diet, in the back of my head was the little voice Letting go might be the way to perfect health… 

Guess what? It’s not. Because for me, and most humans in this toxic age, perfect health doesn’t exist. Good health exists. Better health exists. Happiness exists. Good food and good meals exist. Eating without any stress exists. Laughter and joy exists. Good sleep exists. Eating what your body wants exists. Lower stress exists.

My life is better, my health is better, my metabolism, appetite, ease, and happiness: all better. But perfect health isn’t a part of that equation, because perfect health doesn’t exist.

Better health and happiness is probably waiting for you. But first: Let Go.

Annnnd…. Fuck It.

PS. If this doesn’t apply to you… great! Not everything applies to everyone. I still encourage you to Fuck It when it comes to dieting, and enjoy your life. You can still drink all the Kale smoothies you want. I love Kale Smoothies.