Why You Have Never Failed at Dieting
Dieting is the number one predictor for weight gain and binge eating. It is NOT your lack of willpower that has led to your failure of dieting. It is dieting that has failed you.
If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating. —Intuitive Eating Workbook
I’ve been thinking so much lately about persistence. How many times have you dieted only to regain the lost weight(plus more)? A poll of 2000 participants found the average person will try 126 fad diets over the course of their lifetime! This averages out to about 2 fad diets each year, which then as reported by pollers was typically abandoned within 6 days. That is some incredible persistence but also a lifetime of exhaustion.
Consider why you started dieting. Did you feel pressure to lose weight from family, friends, or a physician? What trend do you see with your body weight, since your first diet? Currently, do you find it more difficult to stay on a diet--both mentally and physically? How often have you said that a diet worked because you had a temporary weight loss? When you review your dieting history, was the weight loss ever permanent or did the weight gradually come back?
Dieting has a huge cost which goes far beyond just the financial expenses. Dieting is the number one predictor for weight gain and binge eating. That's right, the thing we reach for in order to “fix” our “problems” is actually the cause. Dieting slows metabolism which is why one-third to two-third of dieters will regain more weight then they lost. Dieting increases food cravings and food preoccupation, worsens self-esteem and even increases risk of heart disease. Dieting only takes us further from our goal of improving health.
Research shows us that dieting has up to a 95% failure rate. You will hear me say this over and over again: You have not failed, you have only been failed. Now, I hear you saying, “But Erin, my doctor always tells me I need to lose weight.” I get it!
Let's look at this from another perspective. If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure your doctor does not say “You need to lower your blood pressure" and then exits the room. Instead the doctor likely will say, “You have high blood pressure. To lower your blood pressure we need to make lifestyle changes such as eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, decreasing your intake of salt, increasing physical activity, and potentially adding a medication.” They will discuss specific behaviors that will work to improve your health. If they made a recommendation for a medication that had up to 95% failure rate would you want to take that medication? Of course not! So again, I say “You have not failed, you have just never been given the right tools.”
The good news, those tools have been with you your whole life. They are inside you right now waiting to be heard. Your body has incredible wisdom to help you determine what, when, and how much to eat when you learn to connect with them. Intuitive Eating is all about relearning how to connect to the internal cues from your body so you no longer have to live by someone else's rules. Those rules are keeping you from being a competent eater. From having the freedom and confidence to walk into any eating environment or situation and making eating decisions that taste and feel good in your body.
I know this all sounds easier said than done. You are right. However, I promise, in time and with practice you can absolutely get back to a life free from dieting, emotional overeating and binge eating. It is possible and Intuitive Eating is the pathway back!
Are you curious where you are as an intuitive eater? Click the button below to take the Intuitive Eating assessment to gain insight into how Intuitive Eating can give you the freedom from food and body anxiety while increasing your self-confidence and inner trust of your body's innate wisdom. You were made for this!
