Dieting is big business. There are hundreds of ‘popular’ diets out there. However, ‘dieting’ does not often lead to long term results because many see it as a quick fix and go back to poor eating habits. Another reason ‘dieting’ fails and often leads to the opposite result is that the nature of many diets is to restrict what you eat and this affects the body both physically and mentally. These restrictive diets often lead to an unhealthy cycle: The Dieting Cycle.
Dieting Begins with a Desire to Lose Weight
Almost all diets start with a desire to lose weight. In some ways this is a misguided desire because weight alone is not a very good indicator of overall health. It is possible to be healthy and be considered ‘overweight’ or to be a ‘healthy weight’ and be in poor health. Plus if weight loss is the only outcome that you are concerned with, there are many unhealthy ways to lose weight, like highly restrictive diets. It is also possible to lose fat – which I believe most people desire when dieting – without actually losing weight or losing very little weight. This is because muscle and other tissues weigh more than fat and if you lose fat while gaining muscle you may even see an increase in weight.
Diets with Self-imposed Restrictions
The desire to lose weight leads to self-imposed restrictions on what to eat. Sometimes these restrictions can be quite extreme with eating very little to no food or only certain types of food. I am sure you have heard of these types of diets. What do self-imposed restrictions lead to? They lead to feelings of deprivation! The body is designed to eat a variety of different foods and when you no longer allow your body certain types of food you get feelings of deprivation. A sure fire way to get someone (this includes yourself) to want something is to tell them they cannot have it. Ultimately you end up with excessive thoughts about your ‘forbidden foods’ because psychologically that is just how we work.
Cravings and Binge Eating – The End of the Diet
When you think about those ‘forbidden foods’ so often, the body begins to have uncontrollable cravings for them. Cravings cannot be resisted forever, and then comes the binge eating. Binge eating is not a healthy state to be in. Basically it involves uncontrolled eating in proportions that usually would not be consumed. To make things worse the ‘forbidden foods’ are probably things that are high in fat and sugar. Now at this point the diet is blown and feelings of guilt and failure follow. A common way of coping with those types of feeling is more binge eating.
The Dieting Cycle Continues
The outcome of the binge eating is almost always more weight gain: the opposite of what we wanted. The additional weight gain has an impact on how we see ourselves and affects our self-esteem. This poor self-esteem coupled with the weight gain lands us right back at the beginning with the desire to lose weight. So the cycle continues and you end up with the yo-yo diet.
What Yo-Yo Dieting Does to the Body
We all know that yo-yo dieting is bad, but what does it do to the body? Restrictive diets can lead to weight loss; however, it is not the weight you want to lose. Often the weight lost is more water and muscle than fat. When the diet is over or is broken, the body basically hoards the energy that you eat preparing for the next period of ‘starvation.’ The body ends up storing more fat and as the cycle continues the body loses more muscle and regains the weight as fat.
How to Break the Dieting Cycle
How do we break the dieting cycle? First is to change your mindset from ‘dieting’ all together. To have meaningful long-term changes we need to change our lifestyle. There are no quick fixes for true health! We don’t have to completely change the desire to lose weight, but please understand that there are much more important things to change when it comes to health than just weight. And most importantly is a change from a mindset of restricting what you can eat to realizing all the good and healthy food there is that you can eat. I would be careful about saying any food is completely off limits because that leads us into the cycle again. What I mean is, if you want to have a bowl of ice cream and decide that you really want some, it is okay to enjoy some ice cream but don’t eat the whole carton in one sitting. Overall making healthier food choices does not mean that you cannot enjoy desserts but it should be in moderation.
Exercise is important in breaking the dieting cycle and living a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise will help the body to use more energy contributing to weight (fat) loss and helps the body to maintain and build muscles. Regular exercise can even affect the types of things that we want to eat and lead to healthier food choices.
Conclusion
Dieting is still big business but it rarely leads to long-term changes. Don’t get caught in the dieting cycle, but choose to change your life through healthier living not a temporary diet. If you would like more specific nutritional advice or information about how chiropractic can help you reach your health goals, call Life Symmetry Chiropractic today and let us help you on your way to a healthier life.
