So, you’ve identified that you don’t want to diet anymore. You’ve thought back to when you did diets in the past – the slimming groups and the no-carb crazes. Yeah sure, some of those times you may have lost weight but you’re stuck in this revolving door. You’re switching from either being REALLY strict and doing EVERYTHING to lose weight to being REALLY off dieting mode. There never seems to be an in-between! It’s exhausting! That’s not to mention how it makes you feel going through these cycles, the more difficult side to think about and the side of dieting society does not want you talking about. I’m talking about the negative thoughts that occur or get worse, the feelings of being a ‘failure’, failing another diet again. You may or may not have noticed how these feelings get worse after each diet – dieting has been scientifically shown to be linked with poorer body image.
Okay Aoife, then take me to the good stuff – show me the alternative! Okay, okay, but one thing to become accustomed to is moving away from instant gratification. Don’t worry, it’s not just you – we live in a world where everything is instant access you rarely have to wait longer than 24hours anymore from the point where you think of that new fish tank accessory to when you have that very thing within your grasp (okay I know, not relatable but I can’t stop treating my fishies). Instant gratification has not just crept into the weight loss industry but taken it by storm – think of before and after pictures, when do they make you want to lose weight? NOW! And do we care what method we achieve this weight through? NO! We want it NOW! How did we get here? And, when we think about it, do these methods ever actually really work? Science shows that the most common outcome from dieting is the very thing you are trying to avoid – weight gain.
With this all in mind – and trying to avoid the temptation to skip to the end – I am going to first show you the cycle you are probably very dizzy circling around – the diet cycle.
Let’s break this down. Think back to diets you went on and think about that time period just before you decided to embark on another diet. More often than not, there is a triggering event or thought process to which we think dieting is the only solution to. It may have been an upcoming event such as a wedding, there may be someone in particular who regularly passes judgement, or you may be at the point where you are sick of fatphobia (our society’s obsession with terrorising people in a bigger body and making them constantly think they need to ‘fix’ themselves in some way). Thing is, there is always an activating event or thought process that fuels the ‘pressure or desire to lose weight’. It’s important to note whether that pressure or desire is coming from a negative or positive place. When action you take is driven by a negative force at its core (and trust me, you’re not alone if this is the case) it can lead to a self-driving cycle of self-loathing. This my friends, is not where I want you to be and I don’t think you want to be there either. So, first call to action! Go grab a good old-fashioned scrap of paper and a pen or you can type this next bit into your phone – don’t worry, I’ll wait. Now, list all the impacts that dieting has had on you long term. Then create a second list (and this one may be trickier) of the reasons why you deserve more than to be in a never-ending diet cycle.
Well done you. Now we are going to discuss dieting and the deprivation mindset and its polar opposite: habituation theory.
Deprivation mindset occurs whenever we make the intentional decision to restrict a food. It can set in before you even ever start the restriction. Do you ever wonder why you have the instant drive to have all your ‘forbidden foods’ in one go before you start the diet on Monday? Yeah, that’s thanks to the deprivation mindset. To be fair, our body is doing our best and you won’t see me slander the wonder that is the human body. However, purposely having less food is slightly different than having no food back in hunter gathering times. Sure, back then it was crucial to have an incredible drive to food when the berries and nuts weren’t quite cutting it. Nowadays, you can pop round to the local and purchase pretty much anything – it’s the era of instant gratification! However, your body is a seriously complex being and if you tune into the right signals, you can work with it to build body trust and free yourself from the torturous diet cycle. Here at the Centre for Nutrition Liberation, all our care is rooted in body respect and tuning in to your very own metabolism, hunger and fullness hormones.
Second call to action – think about whether you are ready to demand a better way of living for yourself, to invest in you.
If you are interested in more, look at our care packages.
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