Have you tried every diet out there and wondering why you can’t seem to settle at your natural weight? If the answer is yes, then keep reading to understand why.
Whilst reading ‘Just eat it’ by Laura Thomas PHD, I came across her ‘dieting cycle’ concept and thought I must share this, as it clearly shows exactly what is happening when we go on a diet, why they don’t work and why we never fail at a diet, it is the diet that fails us…
The dieting cycle:
- 1. DESIRE TO BE THIN
- 2. RESTRICTIVE DIET
- 3. DIET MENTALITY
- 4. WEIGHT LOSS
- 5. HUNGER/CRAVINGS
- 6. BLOW-OUT
- 7. GUILT / ANXIETY
- 8. WEIGHT REGAIN
(and repeat)
So to start off with, there is the DESIRE TO BE THIN, which is encouraged by the cultural ideal that thin is more attractive, healthy, happy etc…
This desire then leads to going on a RESTRICTIVE DIET, as low calorie diets are heavily marketed as the quickest and easiest way to lose weight.
Going on a restrictive diet then leads to the DIET MENTALITY, the good/bad foods, low fat/high fat, low sugar/high sugar and the list goes on.
Reducing and restricting calories will initially result in WEIGHT LOSS because our body begins to use up its supplies of glycogen, a carbohydrate that is stored with water.
When we go on a diet, on one hand our metabolism slows down and on the other, food is more and more appealing which results in an increase in HUNGER/CRAVINGS.
As food (and often more palatable foods like bread, biscuits, chocolate etc) is now much more appealing, this leads to a BLOW-OUT or a binge eating episode to quickly replace all of those calories than our body isn’t getting.
This can then lead to feelings of GUILT and ANXIETY, especially if you have over eaten with ‘bad/naughty’ foods.
The binge eating combined with a now much slower metabolism then leads to WEIGHT REGAIN and it can often be more than before we start a diet. As result the desire to be thin starts again…
It’s important to remember that if you have to engage in restriction and disordered eating to maintain your weight, then it’s not the weight your body is naturally comfortable at. Dieting, food rules and restrictions move us away from our internal ques and disconnect us from these innate physical sensations.
If you would like help breaking free from this dieting cycle then reach out anytime. This is something I work on with my clients in my 1.1 coaching programmes and group trainings that I run throughout the year.
To your health and happiness,
Áine x
