Stuck Dieting and Trapped?
Dieting gets you stuck in a revolving door with no exit. You go round and round. First you're thrilled because you lost weight. But shortly after you notice the weight is starting to come back. You immediately become frightening and go back on the diet. But your metabolism slows down and even the lesser amount of food is making your regain the weight you lost. For ninety-five to ninety-eight percent of dieters it's the exact same experience.
Blaming Yourself Instead of the Diet
The worst thing is that you blame yourself for regaining the weight. The Diet Industry is thrilled about that because it means that you'll try another diet. No matter what diet, lifestyle change, exercise, Keto, Paleo, etc. you will have the same experience.
Lots of people gain more weight with each diet they go through! I dieted myself to fat after decades of trying diet after diet!
Dieting Causes Stress
Dieting is stressful. You probably are eating different food than the rest of your family and friends. If you go out to eat it's really hard to watch people eat delicious meals while you eat rabbit food. And the crazy thing is those people who are eating rich foods are frequently your thinnest friends! I've heard that from many weight staff servers!
Do you really think that your thin friends never eat carbs, sugar or drink alcoholic beverages? Of COURSE they do! So why should YOU have to starve yourself to be thin?
There is some other reason why you have a weight issue and they don't. My quiz can help you identify what is going on in your body.
Stress Changes Your Metabolism
While blaming yourself for regaining weight, after or even during a diet, I bet you never realized that dieting slows your metabolism to keep you from starving! Not eating enough can stop your weight loss very quickly!
Weight Watchers is Another Revolving Door
I bet you lost weight on many different kinds of diets. My friend told me that "Weight Watchers works." Sure it worked, and then it stopped working. That's why she was going back on WW! I started regaining weight while I was still eating weight watchers. She is stuck in a diet revolving door and blames herself for regaining the weight- not the diet! If Weight Watchers really worked she wouldn't have regained the weight! It's the same with every diet.
Oprah has done us all a big disservice by buying into WW and promoting it. We trusted her and she fell back into the same hole and is dragging us all along with her!
Stress Makes You Eat Comfort Food
You probably were missing the foods you used to enjoy. And maybe, under stress you gave in and ate a piece of bread, a cookie or more. Maybe you went on a binge or serious bout of over-eating. That's called stress eating. And of course you overeat comfort food: all the foods that you were restricting and denying yourself while on the diet.
But even that isn't your "fault" because that's what your brain is programmed to do when you don't have enough food and under stress. Your brain focuses you on the wonderful aromas of food around you and fills your thoughts with the next meal. And that is exactly how your body is SUPPOSED to act to keep you alive!
But then, the weight slowly reappeared. Maybe you “got off” the diet after you reached the weight you wanted to be. You probably figured: OK, I lost the weight, and now I can go back to eating a “normal” amount of food, and I can stop starving myself.
Dieting Changes Your Metabolism
There's a big problem because dieting changes your metabolism. It slows down as Mother Nature does her work to bring you back to your higher weight set point! It wasn’t even like you pigged out, and over-did it. You just stopped totally depriving yourself, like when you were on the diet.
But despite being “careful”, the weight started coming back on. OMG! It’s so frustrating and upsetting! Look how hard you worked, and how much you gave up! But now, your body is re-adjusting to the lower caloric intake you fed it. Then you get to a point where you “can’t stand yourself” and go back on another diet. It’s like being stuck in a revolving door!
Stop Blaming Yourself- It's Stressful
Most of us who have gone through that cycle and end up regaining the weight get angry at our body. WHY is this happening to ME?? Then you start blaming yourself, and getting really sad, as slowly the new clothes you may have bought become tighter and tighter.
It's NOT Your Fault
This is not something that is just happening to you. It happens to everyone who has a HEALTHY BODY, and tries to fool Mother Nature by “eating less and exercising more”. It goes against the Laws Of Nature. Your body is designed to keep you alive, and will adjust your metabolism when there are times of low food availability. If you eat too little, your metabolism slows down. If you exercise too much, and burn too many calories, your automatic system will MAKE you hungry. It’s beyond your control!
But humans think that we can tame nature – but I assure you that Nature is going to win.
STRESS Makes You Binge Eat
Dieters are the ones who report stress eating. People who don't diet use different strategies, both bad and good to deal with stress. When dieters are stressed they use “comfort food” as a drug of choice to treat the stress. They are those who are "watching their weight", restricting specific foods or on a diet. When you're stressed you lose that inhibition that keeps you from grabbing the ice-cream and cookies. The truth is, while you're binge eating you're not even tasting or enjoying the food. Your mind is still on the thing that is stressing you out!
You have a double whammy: stress slows down your metabolism, and you eat because of the stress. How’s a person supposed to beat those odds?
How To Break Out of the Revolving Door
There's only one way to break out of the revolving door of diet, regain, diet again. It's by NOT dieting. Because dieting is stressful. You may be terrified to stop dieting because you think you will gain tons more of weight. And it's that very fear of gaining weight that keeps you stuck!
For many people who stop dieting it takes a while to really purge yourself of that diet mindset. So even though you think you're not dieting, you still may be cutting back unconsciously. But your body knows that and is still stressed from that self-hatred.
It's all because you are unhappy with your body
You must work on accepting yourself and your body. You must forgive yourself and be like a gentle, loving parent. When you are truly there, your stress level and cortisol levels will drop. Then you can start using food to nurture yourself. You can eat whatever you want. When you know that you don't have to avoid a certain food it no longer has power over you. Then you can start practicing Mindful Eating (also known as Intuitive Eating). Your weight will stabilize and your body will take over and keep you at this new weight set point. It really works- but only when you jettison that Diet Mindset.
And you can use eating food as a mindful practice to deal with the stress. Paradoxical?
Your body knows how to keep you healthy when you listen to it and pay attention!
Then staying your weight will take no effort. WOW- a life where you can stop focusing on food and your weight. That's making peace with your body and food.
