The process of going on a diet is failing us. Dieting actually causes us to be more fixated on food. So all of your overeating and food obsession?
Definitely not your fault.
These are common, and normal aspects of body signaling, and the good news is that you can improve wellness without dieting.
THERE IS A WAY OUT OF THIS VICIOUS CYCLE!
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We don’t think it is an understatement to say that eating issues are one of the most common problems we encounter in health and wellness these days. There is no shortage of quick fixes, fad diets, drastic recommendations, or for that matter, good old common sense advice.
But where has that gotten us? If anything, it may be part of the reason that eating issues are so common! The more people label foods bad or good, the further they get from their ability to make decisions based on feeling good and actually having good health, rather than being good.
Dieting trains our brains to make food harder to resist. When we restrict our intake, hunger hormones kick in that are designed to make us overly hungry, make food even more appealing than usual, and literally make food taste better. Then we are primed to overeat.
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WHY DIETS FAIL
Dieting alters our hunger and satiety cues (our hormones that help us feel full actually drop). It interferes with our body’s gentle signaling from tummy to brain and eventually those cues become less powerful until we no longer perceive them. Then we tend to overeat.
Dieting can damage our relationship with food driving emotional eating, which can lead to a dependence on food to help manage stress. Consuming a low-calorie diet can increase levels of our stress hormone cortisol which can prime us to eat more by configuring our reward system in our brain.
Dieting can bring out the worst in us. Research suggests that low-calorie and restrictive diets can make us anxious, irritable, frustrated, and depressed.
Diets can hijack our metabolism, causing it to slow down – meaning it’s even harder to lose and maintain weight.
Diets are often low in key nutrients that are essential to health and this deficit can drive weight gain and hunger as the body’s attempt to take care of itself by finding the vitamins and minerals that it needs.
The mindset I walked in the first session with and the one I have today is completely different and I am so grateful for the positive health habits I will have for life.