Intuitive Eating

Last year I learned the ramifications of dieting from many experts. The nutritionists who wrote the book, Intuitive Eating, are among the experts who encourage their clients to stay away from diets if they want long lasting weight loss, health and well being. This is what Evelyn Tribole M.S., R.D. and Elyse Resch, M.S., R.D. have to say about dieting:

Diet backlash is the cumulative side effect of dieting; it can be short-term or chronic, depending how long a person has been dieting. It may just be one side effect, or several.
By the time Sandra came to the office, she had the classic symptoms of diet backlash. She was eating less food, yet had trouble loosing weight during her more recent diet attemps.
Other symptoms include:

• The mere contemplation of going on a diet brings on urges and cravings for "sinful" foods and "fatty" favorites: such as ice cream, chocolate, cookies, and so forth.
• Upon ending a diet, going on a food binge and feeling guilty. One study indicates that postdieting binges occur in 49 percent of all people who end a diet.
• Having little trust in self with food. Understandably, every diet has taught you not to trust your body or the food you put in. Even though it is the process of dieting that fails you, the failure continues to undermine your relationship with food.
• Feeling that you don't deserve to eat because you are overweight.
• Shortened dieting duration. The lifespan of a diet gets shorter. (Is it no wonder that Ultra-Slim Fast's sales pitch is, "Give us a week...and we'll...").
• The last supper.Every diet is preceded by consuming foods you presume you won't eat again. Food consumption often goes up during this time. It may occur over one meal or over a couple of days. The Last Supper seems to be the last step before "dietary cleansing," almost a farewell-to-food party. For one client, Marilyn, every meal felt like it was her last. She would each meal until she was uncomfortably stuffed- she was terrified she would never eat again. For good reason: She had been dieting over two thirds of her life, since the sixth grade, through a series of fasting and 500-calorie diets. As far as her body was concerned, a diet was only around the corner- so she felt she had better eat while she could. Each meal for Marilyn was famine relief.
• Social withdrawal.Since it's hard to stay on a diet and go to a party or out to dinner, it becomes easier just to turn down social invitations...There is often a fear of being able to stay in control. It's not uncommon for this experience to be reinforced by "saving up the calories or fat grams for the party," which usually means eating very little. But by the time the dieter arrives, ravenous hunger dominates and eating feels very out of control.
• Sluggish metabolism. Each diet teaches the body to adapt better to the next self-imposed famine (another diet). Metabolism slows as the body efficiently utilizes each calorie as if it's the last. The more drastic the diet, the more it pushes the body into calorie-pinching survival mode. Fueling metabolism is like stroking a fire. Remove the wood and the fire diminishes. Similarly, to fuel our metabolism, we must eat sufficient amount of calories, or our bodies will compensate and slow down.
• Using caffeine to survive the day. Coffee and diet drinks are often abused as management tools to feel energetic and filled up while underfed.
• Eating disorders. Finally for some, repeated dieting is often the stepping-stone to an eating disorder, ranging from anorexia nervosa or bulimia to compulsive overeating.

I hope that before you spend more money on another fad diet you understand that if you do indeed lose weight it will only be short term. Also, yo-yo dieting is considered worse for your health than being a few pounds overweight.