Let’s talk about the word DIET. What goes through your head when you hear that word? I’m sure it’s not anything positive. Thoughts like “I’m now restricting my eating because I have to lose weight”…for the next 3 weeks I’m planning to eat only…” are some of the things I hear from my clients when I ask them that question. When in fact, the word Diet, originated from the Greek word diaita, means “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats”, It is what we normally eat as a society, our usual lifestyle and eating behaviors, It’s your way of life.
The scary truth is that 95% of dieters regain the weight they lost within one to five years and in most cases fall into what we call the “yoyo” affect for dieting- when one tend to lose weight and gain it back, resulting in cycling of loss and gain of weight.
Typical diets as we know them today encourage a temporary solution to weight loss, one that we can probably only stick to for a very short period of time. The only permanent solution to weight loss is making small, gradual, and permanent changes to your lifestyle
So why are we still dieting?
First, we all want to be healthy! We are happy to try almost anything to achieve this goal. The problem starts when we forget that we are dealing with a strong but very delicate machine called- YOUR BODY. Diet cycles have a negative effect on our body, our wellbeing and our balance; it makes us even more stressed and leaves us with that feeling of failure. We all agree this was not our intention when we first started this process.
Second, this is what we are used to. This is what we hear on the radio, see on TV, stores are filled with products promising us that if we just take that pill, drink this and join this program all of our worries will disappear! How great would it be if this was all true!
Did you know that the diet industry is a $61 billion dollar industry? Does that make you feel different about your supplement shelf at home?
Train you mind
losing weight can be a real struggle for most of us. If we try to compare what we are doing to our body every time we go on a diet- it is similar to training really hard for a marathon for 3 months, run the marathon and then never run again for a very long time. If we think about it this way, isn’t it better to only run 5km twice a week you whole life? Or in other words, isn’t it better to “train” ourselves to just eat healthy most of the time and keep it going for a long period of time?
For better or for worse we are what we eat, therefore we need to learn how to monitor our eating, how to embrace better eating patterns and behavior and most importantly to know our own bodies, know what makes you feel great and energetic. Very often I meet patients who have tried so many times to either lose weight, change their regular diet in order to feel better, restrict and avoid certain foods for many different reasons. There are many food and nutrition myths out there. Most of them based on false information, so think twice before you choose to believe it and change anything in your diet- just like you wouldn’t change you prescription medication.
Don’t be afraid to eat all kinds of foods, explore, enjoy, and listen to your body and its needs.
ASK.
Ask the right people the right question and demand to get the answer. Don’t fall into food and diet trends, look for the best way for you to become healthy and happy! Make peace with your food.
“I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.” ~Dolly Parton
Stay tuned to Neta’s next article about the non-diet approach coming up in our next newsletter!
Written by Neta Fluksman – Bondi Junction
