A common fear that arises when people stop dieting and therefore stop trying to change their body is that they will "let themselves go".
I'm sure you can picture what "letting yourself go" means.
You'll only want to eat "junk" food. And you'll be eating large amounts of it.
You will gain weight and won't fit into the clothes in your closet.
You won't be active or work out.
You may also worry what other people will think of you when you're not dieting.
What will they say when you swap out a salad for a sandwich?
Or if instead of buying low sugar or low calorie foods, you start enjoying the foods you love because they taste better to you.
Will they think you don't care about your health? Will they express their concern to you?
Diet culture is pretty masterful at convincing us that if we are not with them, we are against them.
Which means if we aren't dieting, we must be not caring about our health or bodies.
Of course this isn't true. If you've been dieting for a long time, you're familiar with two gears; on a diet and off a diet.
Diet culture tells us that "off a diet" is letting yourself go.
It's important to remember that if you weren't dieting in the first place, there would be no reason to go off a diet. Being "off a diet" is only the reaction you have (and often the healthiest reaction) to food restriction.
When you're not restricting food, you get to tune into your body without food rules.
The truth is that when you stop dieting you're claiming a third gear; nourishing your body and exploring what it feels like to feel satisfied around food.
This is the opposite of letting yourself go. This is caring for yourself and your body deeply. This is self-care at its finest.