Dieting has never worked for me. I cannot deny myself rich, fatty, sweet foods by forcing myself to abstain from them for a specified period. Ironically, the very act of dieting causes me to focus on food more than ever. The cravings increase and my eating disorder takes over. The thought of self-denial through food just gives me the horrors! My desire to eat unhealthily is to compensate for something I am lacking. So, to deny myself food is to starve myself of a deeper need.
Dieting is a temporary act of abstaining from foods which are likely to cause weight gain. It can develop into repeated weight loss and weight gain as we are unable to maintain the strict regime long term. Hence the term “yo-yo diet.” Often, the resulting weight gain is greater than the loss we have made.
Heres’ the thing: when you go on a diet, you deny yourself the foods you love the most, while yearning for them. You force yourself to suffer by saying that it will end when you have reached your goal. When you have attained your goal weight, you head straight back into your natural dietary habits. But this time, you are desperate to satiate the demons within and, you gain the weight back and some more along with it. Yo-yo dieting is not only self-defeating, and a form of self-punishment, it is also unhealthy. The repeated change in weight stresses our body and has a negative effect on our metabolism.
The better way is to satisfy the need for nurture and understanding with self-compassion. When I gave myself these things, the cravings stopped, and my diet improved. This is how I have lost my weight - not by denying myself food but by acknowledging my inner demons and sorting them through, then I had the freedom to make healthier choices.
Maintainable weight loss is a process of integrating healthy food choices into our daily life. The weight loss may be slow, but the change is easier to maintain. By making slight changes to our lives, we can sustain a healthy lifestyle in the long term. Instead of focusing on weight loss, focus on improving your health. Slowly integrate lifestyle changes that are maintainable long-term, and I guarantee you will not only lose weight, but you will gain health.
For ideas about how to integrate a healthy diet into your lifestyle, message me for a chat.
In love, Jenny
