It may feel counterintuitive to want to lose weight, but not "diet".
After all, if I want to lose a lot of weight I need to make a drastic change to my intake, right? First of all, it's important to remember that the word diet can mean a few different things:
1. The kinds of food that a person habitually eats
2. A special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons
I'm suggesting that we avoid definition #2 (unless medically necessary). It's not necessary in order to lose weight and even if we do lose weight, it's nearly impossible to keep it off.
Weight Loss Tip #20 - Don't Diet
Reasons why dieting is not the best approach to better health and weight loss:
Diets don’t work – they don't lead to long-lasting weight loss and are not sustainable or realistic long term.
Dieting can have a negative impact on metabolism - fad dieting and drastic changes to the types of food you consume, meal times and amounts can decrease your metabolism making it even harder to lose weight in the future.
Dieting disrupts normal body processes - drastic changes to your intake can cause stress on your body. The body prefers homeostasis in weight, metabolism, body temperature, etc. Changes must be made slowly.
Dieting causes weight cycling (repeated weight loss and regain)
Dieting disrupts normal eating patterns and often leads to unhealthy relationships with food
Dieting can lead to disordered eating or eating disorders such as binge eating or anorexia
Dieting disconnects you from what your body actually needs - dieting forces you to ignore your body's signals such as hunger and fullness
Dieting paints some foods as ‘good’ and others as ‘bad,' - foods should not be placed in these categories
Dieting often causes individuals to take focus off things of greater importance like character and personal fulfillment or achievements
Since most diets fail, dieting can increase the feeling of failure. When you have negative feelings about your efforts, it is very difficult to stay motivated. Ask yourself, when is the last time you "got off of a diet" feeling successful?
Bottom line: There is no such thing as a perfect diet - diets require all or nothing thinking and we must find moderation/middle ground in order to achieve a way of eating that is healthy and sustainable.
My challange to you this week is to see a different approach to improved health. Establishing and maintaining healthy behaviors, not weight loss or diets, are likely what leads to better health. Develop a healthy lifestyle, and let weight come off as a result, or not. Live actively, eat well, and feel good about yourself.
I'm here for you and I believe in you.
If this email resonated with you and you'd like to learn how to achieve better health and lose weight without restrictive dieting, email me at miranda@lifeinbalancenutrition.net
I'd love to hear from you.
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