health and wellness

The First Steps to Un-Dieting: Reconnecting with Your Body

The First Steps to Un-Dieting: Reconnecting with Your Body

Let’s talk about the journey to un-dieting—letting go of diet culture to find a way of eating that feels balanced, joyful, and sustainable. This process, while liberating, can also feel intimidating, especially if you’ve spent years cycling through diets that leave you feeling disconnected from your own needs. The reality is, diets often teach us to ignore our bodies rather than connect with them. But here’s the truth: your body has the wisdom you need. Let’s walk through the first steps to un-dieting and reconnecting with your body.

Step 1: Release the All-or-Nothing Mindset

Diets are notorious for their rules, labels, and restrictions. They set up an all-or-nothing framework that teaches us that foods are either “good” or “bad,” leaving no room for a middle ground. But life and food aren’t so black and white! Shifting away from this mindset is the first step in un-dieting.

Think about this as an invitation to allow food back into your life without the judgment. When you release food labels, you make space for balance and variety—both on your plate and in your mind. The goal is to let go of guilt or shame tied to eating, and to understand that food choices don’t define you.

Try this: Next time you reach for something to eat, ask yourself: “Am I eating this because I want to? Is it because I feel like I ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t?’” By exploring these thoughts, you can begin to unwind some of the conditioned thinking around food.

Step 2: Tune Into Your Body’s Signals

Dieting often teaches us to override our body’s natural hunger and fullness cues. The next step in reconnecting with your body is learning to listen to these cues again and honor what your body truly needs. It’s about shifting from external rules to internal guidance.

Start noticing when you feel physical hunger. How does your body signal it? Perhaps it’s a rumble in your stomach, a drop in energy, or a feeling of distraction. Reconnecting with these cues lets you nourish yourself when you’re hungry and stop when you feel satisfied. This is a skill, and it takes practice, but it is achievable!

Try this: Practice mindful eating. Sit down with your meal, take a few deep breaths, and bring your attention to the flavours, textures, and satisfaction in each bite. Eating slowly can help you tune into your body’s signals and eat with intention.

Step 3: Shift Your Focus to How Food Makes You Feel

In a world of dieting, food often becomes a source of stress or guilt. But what if you started thinking about food as a way to feel energized, nourished, and supported? Un-dieting is not about restriction; it’s about understanding what truly nourishes you.

Start by noticing how you feel after meals. Do certain foods leave you feeling sluggish or bloated? Are there meals that make you feel vibrant and energized? Let go of “perfect eating” and focus on the foods that support your wellness and goals. This helps you build a way of eating that’s tailored to you and feels intuitive, not forced.

Try this: Keep a food and feelings journal. Write down what you eat and how it makes you feel physically and emotionally. Over time, you’ll begin to notice patterns that can help guide you toward foods that feel best for your body.

Step 4: Redefine Success Beyond the Scale

Un-dieting is about the bigger picture—it’s about mental and physical well-being, and how food can support a balanced, fulfilling life. For so long, diet culture has taught us to measure success in numbers: calories, kilos, inches. But there’s so much more to health than a number.

Consider what health looks like for you: maybe it’s a clear mind, feeling comfortable in your body, or having the energy to live your life fully. Reclaiming these broader measures of success allows you to connect with your own sense of well-being, rather than what’s expected by external standards.

Try this: Set some intentions that go beyond the physical. Maybe it’s practicing kindness toward yourself, staying active in a way that feels good, or prioritizing rest. Take time to celebrate these wins, even if they seem small—this will help reinforce positive change.

Step 5: Practice Self-Compassion

Changing your approach to eating is a journey, not a one-time fix. There will be days when it’s challenging, but self-compassion is key to un-dieting. Being gentle with yourself as you navigate this new way of eating is not only essential but transformative.

Whenever you find yourself slipping back into diet mentality, remind yourself that this journey is about growth and reconnection. Mistakes don’t erase progress—they’re part of it. Self-compassion will make this journey much smoother, helping you release the pressure to be perfect and instead embrace the learning process.

Try this: Practice a daily affirmation. Start with something simple, like “I am learning to trust my body,” or “My worth is not defined by my food choices.” Small affirmations build resilience and remind you that progress is about the journey.

Your Next Steps

Un-dieting is an ongoing practice of reconnecting, listening, and honoring yourself. Remember that every small step toward trusting your body is a win. Releasing diet culture’s grip takes time, but with each step, you’re moving closer to a life where food is a source of joy, not stress. It’s possible to eat intuitively, to nourish yourself fully, and to feel at home in your body.

Are you ready to start your journey? Join me as we take the first steps together to un-dieting, creating a balanced, fulfilling approach to health that feels aligned with you. If you want to find out more then visiting my health coaching page or email hello@melissa-delport.com

Easy vegetable pasta

Easy vegetable pasta

Comparison is the death of joy and looking at what others are eating, their body shapes and their lives will only make you unhappy and exhausted. It causes you to lose your special shine because you feel less valuable based on a flawed system determining success and worth. You matter, just the way that you are. Gaining health, self worth, good self esteem, energy and happiness in your life is something that you deserve. 

If you want to be healthier then you need to take control of the aspects that you can control. It’s that simple. Don’t overcomplicate things and break your victim mentality through thought swapping. When you hear a negative comparison pop up in your head replace it with something that you are grateful for. If you repeat this three times a day for a week you will start to feel things change. Practice patience with yourself.


Everyone needs a good pasta in their arsenal. Whenever you eat something that is classified as an indulgence such as a pasta, not only can you substitute the pasta with a healthier option, but you can also load it up with as many veggies as possible to keep the balance. Eating more vegetables reduces the risk of chronic diseases and provides the body with vital nutrients to maintain homeostasis.


Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil

  • 400 g cherry tomatoes, halved

  • 1 teaspoon paprika

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 medium-size aubergine, cut into small cubes

  • 2 cobs sweetcorn

  • 1 cup vegetable stock

  • 250 g buckwheat pasta

  • salt

  • 4 kale leaves, stalks removed and leaves torn

  • zest and juice of ½ lemon

  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or grated Parmesan)

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 handful fresh parsley leaves


Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cherry tomatoes and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the paprika, oregano and aubergine cubes and stir well.

Remove the kernels from the sweetcorn by slicing down the length with a sharp knife. Add the kernels to the tomato mixture and stir well. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted water as per the packet instructions. Once ready, drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water, and set the pasta aside.

When the sauce is ready after 20 minutes, add the pasta and gently mix in along with the torn kale leaves, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the nutritional yeast. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water.

Serve the pasta in a bowl, drizzled with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and topped with parsley and the remaining tablespoon of nutritional yeast.


Daily healthy smoothie

This smoothie is a very healthy one. It may take some getting used to as it isn’t overly sweet. That being said, I love it. You can train your palate to love anything if you just give it a chance. This smoothie is high in fibre and the plant-based protein keeps me full for longer. 


Serves: 1

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana, peeled 

½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries 

5 strawberries fresh or frozen

1 handful baby spinach

1 tablespoon chia seeds 

1 serving plant-based protein powder

1 tablespoon almond butter 

1 tablespoon barley or wheatgrass (optional) 

1½ cups coconut water 

2 ice cubes 

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth.  

Hint: Use organic pea protein if you have a sensitive digestive system as it helps with digestion.

-Melissa

Daily healthy smoothie

Stuffed peppers with mint yoghurt dressing

spelt stuffed peppers with herby yoghurt dressing

This is a fun and healthy take on an old classic. It is such a hearty dish that always offers a beautiful pop of colour when you add it to your plate. Eating colourful food means more nutrients and health. You can get creative and try it with different spices and serve them as the main affair or as a side. It’s also a great do-ahead dish so you can grab a stuffed pepper when on the run.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes


Ingredients:

4 medium red or yellow peppers, tops cut off and saved for later, and seeds removed

Dressing

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt

juice of 1 lemon

12 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons maple syrup or 2 teaspoons unrefined brown sugar

80 g goats milk cheese

salt and pepper

Filling

1½ cups spelt, cooked

1 cup vegetable stock

2 teaspoons coconut oil

2 shallots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

4 medium-sized courgettes, grated

2 teaspoons caper berries

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

olive oil

1 handful fresh coriander or parsley leaves, chopped

Instructions:

Prepare the peppers and set aside. You want to keep them intact as you will be filling them later.

For the dressing, mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Season to taste and set aside.

For the filling, cook the spelt as per the packet instructions, adding the vegetable stock to the water that you use to do so. Once ready, set aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, turmeric and cayenne pepper and sauté for a further 5 minutes, stirring often. If it dries out, add a splash of water to help it along. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Once the tomatoes have cooked down, remove the pan from the heat and add the courgettes, caper berries, nutritional yeast and spelt and fold through.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Using a spoon, fill the peppers to the top with the tomato and spelt mixture. Drizzle with a little olive oil, making sure the sides get some oil too. Use your hands if need be. Pop the peppers onto a roasting tray and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Change the setting to grill and grill them for an additional 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don’t burn.

Serve with a big dollop of dressing, and a drizzle of olive oil, and top with the coriander or parsley

-Melissa