Consuming nutritious foods used to be a source of frustration for me. I was aware of what I should be eating, but every Monday my brain told me that I had failed and that I had to start again from the beginning. I’d eat well all day, only to wind myself eating in the afternoon once or twice.
Are you fed up with dieting and seeing no results? You are not alone in this. Lyndi Cohen, a dietitian, shares her story and the secrets to permanently ditching diets in order to maintain a healthy weight.
I used to struggle with healthy eating. Every Monday, my brain told me I’d failed and had to start over. I’d eat well all day, then snack all afternoon at home. Ten years of weight loss, only to gain it back (and more). Until I realized I’d been blaming my willpower for years. But what if I wasn’t dieting? What if diets didn’t work? I changed my approach and lost 20 kilos in four years. To be healthy is nice, but to be free of food restrictions is even nicer.
Why do diets fail?
Diets don’t work because dieting is an unsustainable action. Dieters usually gain back the weight they lost, if not more. Many people are on a diet unknowingly. Some diets are easy to avoid because the diet name is in the book title — think paleo, keto, etc. The issue is that most diets nowadays are veiled. They pass for ‘healthy lifestyle plans’ despite being unmanageable. Wouldn’t you be at your goal weight if dieting worked?
Diets alter your body
You’d expect to lose weight for all the time, effort, and mental energy you put into dieting. Obesity is a common problem in the United States.
Dieting by counting calories may be difficult due to chemical changes in the body. As the ‘satiety hormone’ leptin levels drop while ghrelin levels rise. Even after you reach your goal weight and stop dieting, you may still feel hungry, making it difficult to maintain your new weight. Moreover, you may find that food tastes better than before! Disruptions in the body’s physiology make it difficult to
Dieting can make you crave foods you’re supposed to avoid. When you’re told you can’t have something, you want it more. And when you do eat these forbidden foods, you may feel out of control, not knowing when you can eat them again. Binge eating and food obsession ensue.
Dieting’s drawbacks
Dieting affects more than just your waistline. Weight cycling, or losing weight and gaining it back, is proven to be harmful to your heart. The more your weight fluctuates, the greater your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other heart-related conditions.
Your mental health may be harmed. Dieting is bad for your mood, while eating well supports a better mood and prevents and manages mental health issues. When you’re dieting, it’s difficult to be your best self Some of the symptoms of chronic dieting may be familiar to you. Dieting is also associated with a tendency to overeat — and even binge eat — which not only jeopardizes your weight-loss efforts, but can lead to a binge-eating disorder. Dieting is not the way to improve your health and lose weight, according to research.
6 unfavorable diet effects
1. Increased hunger
Dieting can alter hormones, making you hungrier than before.
2. Replenishment
Dieters typically gain back the weight they lost plus more.
3. Food cravings
As ‘off-limit’ foods become more appealing, you may develop a food obsession.
4. Emotional and binge eating
Dieting can make you feel out of control around food, making it difficult to stop eating.
5. Dysmorphia
You may become fixated on your perceived flaws.
6. Isolation
Dieting restricts what you can eat, making it difficult to eat out socially.
What should I do now that I’m off the diet?
The good news is that you don’t have to give up 95% of your life to lose 5% of your weight.
1. Listen to your hunger
Your appetite is a built-in weight-loss system While dieting teaches us to ignore or fear hunger, non-dieting helps us reconnect with this natural bodily cue. Diets make it difficult to eat intuitively and listen to your body’s internal wisdom.
The goal is to eat when hungry and stop when full. Listen to your body instead of the clock. Some people prefer six small meals per day, while others prefer three larger meals per day. Reconnect with your hunger cues and appetite to find out what works best for you.
2. Motivation for weight loss is health
“Am I doing this new healthy activity to lose weight or to feel better?”
“If you’re only changing your habits to lose weight, you may be more prone to quitting. Weight loss isn’t linear and takes longer than we think. If you’re adopting new habits to lose weight, and you don’t lose weight as expected, or you gain it back, you might be tempted to abandon all healthy new habits, believing they’re ineffective. If your goal is to feel good and strong, you’ll be more resilient when your weight doesn’t track as expected.
3. Try it
Most diets have forbidden foods, which makes you crave them. I suggest ‘crowding’. Focus on eating more veggies, fruit, legumes, and whole grains. Eating more healthy foods naturally crowds out the less healthy options, leaving you feeling full. Stock up on healthy foods and find tasty recipes to enjoy them.
4. Don’t go all-in
Most of us can’t give up whole food groups (like sugar or carbs). Do you really want to live without pasta or a flaky pastry? While you may be happy to give up these treats while on a diet, you will eventually crave them. The calendar is never empty. It’s better to avoid extremes. Cooking more nutritious meals at home, using more vegetables in recipes, and eating mindfully can help you eat better.
5. Restore joy
It’s easy to do something you enjoy. It’s a choice, not a punishment. The hard part is keeping up with your new healthy habits if they feel like a chore. If going to the gym sounds like torture, find an exercise that you enjoy. Maybe some yoga. While these activities may not burn as much energy as going to the gym or running, they are more likely to be done regularly. Consistency is the key to good health. And fun is the key to consistency.
6. Adopt only healthy habits
Ask yourself, “Can I keep this up for the rest of my life?”
”The benefits will only last as long as you keep the new habit. In the short term, any weight lost will be regained when the healthy habit is broken.”