Everyday women are bombarded with messaging about weight loss, diets, and dieting.
Diet culture portrays dieting as a simple solution to a simple overeating problem. And by dropping the weight you’ll have a happier life, more confidence, and be more attractive.
In other words, diet culture wants you to believe that losing those ten kilos is the answer to all of your problems.
In reality, dieting is a surface-level attempt at fixing a far more nuanced situation. It takes deep self-work and compassion to understand the real causes of your weight and what you’ve done to try to fix it. Without this work you’re forever stuck in a weight loss cycle.
It important to take a step back and question any dieting trends We can start by asking: what is a diet, anyway?
Dieting, Defined
In short, diets are a set of food and eating rules created by a so-called expert. It is generally believed that if you follow these rules, you’ll lose (insert your desired number) of kilos.
And the rules of dieting are deceivingly simple. Less calories in, more calories out. Eat more of this and less of that. Eat at this time but not at that time. Eat less, move more.
The simplicity of dieting is its main appeal. Its rules are easy to follow and uncomplicated by emotion. They can even work for a period of time.
But life, and our eating patterns, are never quite that simple. Everyone has their own rules for eating. Built up over a lifetime, they are mostly invisible and more powerful than the rules of a diet.
The problem with dieting
Here’s the truth about dieting: diets work until they don’t.
This is because dieting fails to address the root of your weight. It doesn’t acknowledge why or how you got to a place where weight loss feels necessary.
Moreover, your weight gain may be the solution you developed for a different problem.
If this is the case, you can lose the weight but still have the underlying problem. And if the underlying problem remains unresolved, the weight will come back.
For example, you may turn to food for comfort when feeling sad. Or someone may mindlessly snack in excess at their desk during the workday.
For any weight loss to be successful requires you to understand your eating rules and the type of eating they trigger. Examining your eating history will help you understand what motivates your eating so that you can make different decisions in the future.
For example, when examining her eating history, a woman might realize that she has tended to binge or turn to unhealthy foods in the past when feeling overwhelmed. Knowing this can help her form different coping strategies to deal with stress in the future.
Now, imagine if this woman did not look into her eating history. She could temporarily succeed at losing weight by eating less and moving more. However, when confronted with stress, she may turn to an eating pattern that sets her back again. This cycle can continue endlessly because the underlying issue is not being addressed.
To get off the weight loss cycle...
You have to go back to go forward. Without understanding your history, the initial cause of your weight gain remains under the surface. Getting to the root of your weight problem is the key to making real change.
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