I recently read a headline touting a program for weight loss, “75% of our patients have lost weight within one month of starting our program”. I rolled my eyes. DUH! Diets are easy at first. They are even sometimes, dare I say it, fun! Our brains love metrics and the sensation of being in control. Diets give us both of these. Diets give us a metric to strive for and track (fun!) and a goal to reach, and an outline of rules (even more fun!). Our brain is on fire that first few weeks of a diet, the dopamine is going wild. This is exacerbated even more when we see the scale budge, “look at me, I’m doing this and succeeding!!”. Diets, at first, are easy. Diets, at first, feel really freaking good. They give us something to talk about at the party or the next friend gathering. They are a thing we are doing, and crushing. Diets at first may be successful, but we don’t live in “at first” for long. “At first” is only a blip on the life scale and trajectory. “At first” is like 1 millisecond of time in our (hopefully) long lives. “At first” a diet is fun, but beyond “at first” a diet is exausting, a chore, a dreadful thing you have to do day in and day out. So, I ask, why are we doing them?
Research shows;
- Dieting predicts future weight gain (the rebound affect)
- 1/3rd-2/3rds of weight loss from a diet is regained after one year (imagine 2, 3, 5 years out!)
Diet “failure” is a sign your body is working the way it should. When you “fail a diet” it’s your body protecting itself from famine, or what it sees as famine. While we, our brains, and even our body might enjoy a diet “at first”, in the long run, it’s a lose lose situation. Very few people can stick to a diet, even if it’s one that is supposed to be “more flexible” or “the non diet, diet”. Most of the time the issue is that we are so wrapped up in weight loss, that when the weight stops falling off, we give up. Why do all this work if we aren’t even losing weight? The focus of weight loss, which is the focus of 99.9% of all diets, is a flawed and misleading focus.
Enter intuitive eating. Wtih intuitive eating the focus is feeling good, feeling GREAT, self-care, self-compassion and sustainable life altering lifestyle behavior changes. The thing about intuitive eating is that it’s the opposite of a diet. At first, it’s hard, not fun. Intuitive eating starts out hard, then gets easier as you continue to flex certain brain muscles and use curiosity and self-compassion to guide you in new life habits. While the dopamine may not come smacking you in the face, like with a diet, the long term sustainability of an intuitive eating practice is far superior to that of a weight loss diet. So now I ask, which would YOU choose for your life? Do you want to live a life of coninuing to start new “at firsts” over and over again? Or try something new, that builds and inspires and changes your life for the better, at first, and beyond?
Below is a recent picture of me and some of my best friends from highscool. The server brought out a plate of desserts to celebrate on of our birthdays. Diets and restriction would render those desserts off limits. A view of food as a means of satisfaction and nourishment gave me full permission to try each, decide on my own if I wanted more, and fully enjoy the experience.
Get on my waitlist for insurance covered intuitive eating coaching by emailing me at Gina.Forster@UseNourish.com
Visit my personal business website; www.NutritionUnmeasured.com
Check out my 10-module self-paced intuitive eating course on my new You Tube channel!!
