I recently had the opportunity to talk with a gorgeous woman who began dieting at the age of six. 🙁 Her story and some of the things that people have said to her throughout her life broke my heart. She spent years trying to fit in and force her body to be what society wanted her to be rather than who she was designed to be. She tried every diet she could find and, in the end, every single one of them failed her.
If you have ever struggled with weight loss, you are not alone. Solid science continues to confirm that a restrictive, weight-focused approach doesn’t work. In a review of 31 long-term studies on dieting, Medicare’s Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer, the authors shared that “there is little support for the notion that diets lead to lasting weight loss or health benefits.” Their studies found that most people are unable to maintain weight loss over the long term and one-third to two-thirds of dieters regain more weight than they lost.
Yet the billion dollar diet industry continues to promise things it usually can’t deliver and, in most cases, does more harm than good to the person on the diet. Even the diets that don’t wreak havoc on your body’s metabolism leave a dust trail of heartache behind them due to the emotional and psychological harm they can cause.
It’s time that we as a society STOP dieting and focusing on weight all of the time. It’s time that we give ourselves permission to start living and stop allowing the fitness and diet industry’s narrow definition of what “healthy” looks like to control our lives. Dining with family and friends is one of the simplest pleasures in life. Food is SO much more than fuel. It’s cultural, it’s memories, and it’s fun.
How To Stop Dieting And start living
To stop dieting does not mean that you “let yourself go” or slip into a food “free for all.” It means that you are going to eat appropriate portions of tasty food when you are hungry, learn what works best for you, and discover what a healthy baseline or body weight is for you.
A healthy body weight is normally a weight that you can maintain without restricting yourself from the things you enjoy. We all have our own natural weight where our body is most comfortable and can maintain itself. We also know when we are overdoing it any area of our lives and if there are things we should cut back on like sugar, alcohol, etc. Practicing moderation should be about your health, not about numbers on the scale. When you focus on truly being healthy instead of skinny, weight loss is often times a natural byproduct.
Diets don’t work and they can create stress in many areas of your life. No one needs more stress in their life. If you have been struggling with dieting, I encourage you to give up the diet mentality once and for all. Embrace your natural body type and allow yourself to focus on creating a happy, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle.
Here’s to saying no to dieting and yes to LIVING!
Shared with love,
Jennifer
