We are now one month into the New Year, which means 30 days have passed since you have committed to yet another resolution to lose the weight once and for all. But have you ever taken the time to reflect upon the methods you have chosen over and over again to achieve your weight loss goals? How many diets have you actually gone on and off in your lifetime? Did they work? If so, for how long?
The unfortunate truth that I am about to share with you is that diets do not work. At first, dieting can be fun and even exhilarating. You think that "this time it's going to work, this time I'm going to stay committed". And you do. The weight comes off and it's a very euphoric feeling. But for many chronic dieters, the weight always ends up coming back once the diet is over. This is why dieting is not the solution for achieving long-term weight loss. In fact, statistics show that 46% of people who make a weight loss resolution never make it past 6 months. The reason is that dieting is hard. Restricting calories alters your mood and depriving yourself of your favorite foods can be tormenting. Eventually, you give in to your cravings which lead to overeating and feelings of failure.
If this sounds like you and you experience a yo-yo cycle of successes and failures, you can likely relate to the negative feelings dieting has imposed on your life. It is quite exhausting to have to constantly obsess over food. Contrary to what dieting has taught you, food is not the enemy and everyone deserves to eat regardless of their size or shape.
If you take a step back and consider the pros and cons that dieting has brought you in the past, your list might look something like this:
Pro: Lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time
Con: Felt hungry, was moody, couldn't concentrate, missed eating my favorite foods, was not enjoyable, always had to think about what I was eating, gained back all the weight, felt guilt, felt like a failure
Dieting instills a life-long obsession with food and body image that is debilitating mentally, emotionally and physically. What you may not realize is that these issues are actually caused by dieting (something that the diet industry would rather keep hush, hush). If you have gone through the dieting cycle for years without long-term success, you might have reached a very critical point known as "diet bottom". Hitting diet bottom means that you do not have the energy or inner strength to go on another diet. You are completely exhausted from dieting, from thinking about how every bite is going to affect your weight, from counting calories and from depriving yourself of foods that you love. You simply cannot do it anymore.
Hitting diet bottom, believe it or not, is a positive place to be as it is the first step out of the yo-yo dieting cycle. It is important to know if you have truly hit diet bottom because there are solutions to achieving permanent weight loss that do not include a single diet plan. Figuring out for yourself if you are at this point takes self-reflection into your personal diet patterns and to be honest with yourself as to how dieting has affected you throughout your life. Then, and only then, can you move to the next step of discovering the biggest mistakes you've made at dieting and from there, to proper nourishment of your mind, body and soul.
