Does Dieting Increase Weight-Gain?
Ready to reject the infamous words “I’m on a Diet”? Tired of the yo-yo dieting concept? How about a new outlook on life and nutrition? Read about how diets may actually increase weight gain.
According to an article at intuitiveeating.org, “Warning: Dieting Increases Weight-gain”
- A team of UCLA researchers reviewed 31 long term studies on dieting and concluded that dieting is a consistent predictor of weight gain—up to two-thirds of the people regained more weight than they lost.
- Research on nearly 17,000 kids ages 9-14 years old concluded, “…in the long term, dieting to control weight is not only ineffective, it may actually promote weight gain”.
- Teenage dieters had twice the risk of becoming overweight, compared to non-dieting teens, according to a five-year study. Notably, at baseline, the dieters did not weigh more than their non-dieting peers. This is an important detail, because if the dieters weighed more—it would be a confounding factor, (which would implicate other factors, rather than dieting, such as genetics).
Studies aside–what has your own dieting experiences shown you? Many of my patients and workshop participants say their first diet was easy- -the pounds just melted off. But that first dieting experience is the seduction trap, which launches the futile pursuit of weight loss via dieting. I say futile—because our bodies are very smart and wired for survival.
Biologically, you body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode—metabolism slows down and food cravings escalate. And with each diet, the body learns and adapts, resulting in rebound weight gain. Consequently, many of my patients feel like they are a failure—but it is dieting that has failed them. Not only do diets not work, they increase your risk of weight gain.
It’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiastic hoopla of the New-Year-Dieting-Season– with celebrity testimonials and promises anew. Instead, how about embarking on an inner journey–in pursuit of becoming the expert of your own body. It takes listening and inner attunement.
Isn’t time to get to know you—your wants and needs, what you like to eat–what tastes good and satisfies? But it’s hard to listen to your body when you are following the external directives of a diet program, which is why the first principle of Intuitive Eating, is Reject the Dieting Mentality.”
Ready to look at food in a different way, not as your enemy anymore? Barbara Cox of ABC Nutrition Services can help, Barbara Cox believe’s in the non diet approach to eating disorder recovery and weight loss. Visit abcnutritionservices.com for more information.
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