Do you remember your first diet?

I sure do. It was Slimfast. I did NOT need a diet (well – no one does), but it was the thing to do.

The plan was to have a Slimfast shake for breakfast and lunch and then eat a “sensible dinner.” So naturally I was incredibly hungry and irritable by dinnertime.

The diet itself only lasted a few days, but unfortunately it became the first in a long line of dieting attempts. Although I lost very little weight each time (15 or 20 lbs max, literally one time), I increasingly lost faith in myself. Not only did each diet take a considerable amount of mental energy to plan the meals, track the calories, they also slowly but surely chipped away at my already shaky self-esteem.

The Emotional Toll of Dieting

The ups and downs are exhausting, and for most dieters there are more downs than ups. The brief “up” periods include a glimmer of optimistic hope before you start a new plan, mixed with fears of failing yet again. But the thought that “maybe this will be the time I truly meet my goals and become the new me” keeps you going.

And yet, most dieters regain their lost weight plus more within 3-5 years, if not sooner. There are many reasons for this, but regardless of these failure rates, as a society we still believe that the majority of people can lose weight and keep it off. And although data suggests it is possible, it’s incredibly rare to lose more than a few pounds and keep it off for the long haul.

So whether we call it a diet or a “lifestyle change” we keep on dieting. Creating new “eating plans,” putting new limits on ourselves.

Learnings from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment

In 1950, a small group of men volunteered to be put on a starvation diet for the sake of better understanding hunger and how to help those needing to recover from hunger and starvation. This report, though extreme, gives a lens into what extreme restriction of calories can do to us.

The report tells us that these men experienced “marked depression, irritability, intense preoccupation with thoughts of food, decrease in self-initiated activity, loss of sexual drive, and social introversion” (Keys et al., 1950).

Again, this starvation was intense (the men lost 25% of their body weight over 6 months), most dieters can tell you that effects of a less intense weight loss, particular over time, can be quite similar.

The Cognitive Toll of Dieting

I am a documenter. The other day I decided to look back at some old journals. The more I write about dieting the more I reflect back on my journey. And believe it or not, now that I’m feeling so good after giving up dieting 7+ years ago, it’s actually really hard to remember how bad I felt.

But my journals don’t lie. The most striking thing looking through my journals is the sheer amount of pages dedicated to recording calories. I must have had 10 journals and about 50% of the pages were my food and calorie totals or Weight Watchers points total.

All that work, all that math, and what did I have to show for it? Shame, self-blame, and feelings of failure. Not much else.

It saddens me to think of all of the things I could have been focused on: my graduate studies, deepening my friendships, reading for fun, relaxing, and so on. But no, I was uselessly recording my calories and trying to stay under a certain limit.

What Are You Missing Out On?

I hate to think back to all of the times when I’d plan a vacation. My first thought would be, ok, 1) how many months do I have until the vacation starts, and 2) can I lose that last 10-15 pounds prior to the vacation start date?

In case you were wondering, the answer to question #2 was always no. But it didn’t stop me from trying.

I also frequently stressed about the food available in social situations. When I traveled to meet my future in-laws in Grand Rapids for the first time, I remember worrying that I had just started another round of Weight Watchers but I didn’t want to “burden them” by asking for a special menu.

Looking back, I realized I missed out on years of the freedom of living a life where I focused on the people and experiences versus food planning and the stress that comes along with it.

The Problems We Aren’t Solving When Dieting

Now that I am no longer dieting, my thinking is clearer and I have more mental energy to focus on what matters to me.

I am able to actually learn and think critical about larger problems in the world, including the many social injustices and inequities.

I can only imagine how useful this would have been in my graduate program. Or as an undergraduate at Michigan State. Or frankly anytime during those many years of dieting.

Is Dieting a Form of Oppression?

A few years ago, I’d think this was a bit of a far fetched statement. Maybe because I am uncomfortable with making others uncomfortable. Or maybe because I truly was never shown the link.

But let’s think about this for a minute.

If people are convinced they aren’t good enough and need products to “fix themselves” then they are often distracted by other more important issues. They are also invested in buying products that help them to “improve themselves.” And this means the vast majority of the time to make themselves look like the body type we deem “healthy” and therefore “good.”

So is dieting specifically used as a tool of social oppression on purpose? I can’t say that for sure. But does it absolutely distract MANY people, many of them women from other more important things? Absolutely. And it certainly isn’t distracting them for something worthwhile, given that 90%+ of the time it leads to zero if not negative results.

The Link Between Dieting and Racial Injustice

I’ll be the first to admit, I have a lot to learn here.

I recently listened to the interview between Brene Brown and Sonya Renee Taylor on the podcast Unlocking Us and my mind is still spinning regarding what this means for the health field. Sonya wrote the book, The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love.

The book title speaks for itself. So often we, particularly women, feel that we need to apologize for our bodies. This leads to shame and dieting and leads us away from what would truly serve us: learning to love and respect our bodies so that we can take great care of them.

The interview highlights some of the ways racial injustice contributes to lack of body respect across the board, in ways I’m still trying to wrap my heard around. Highly recommend that you take a listen, and get ready for your mind to be blown and/or to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Embracing Body Diversity

One thing I do know for sure is that it is essential that we start embracing body diversity if we are ever to truly improve our health. Sonya Renee Taylor talks about the importance of not just “self-acceptance” but true radical self-love and what this would mean for our overall well-being and society as a whole.

If that isn’t a reason to stop dieting, I don’t know what is.

3 Reasons to Stop Dieting in 2021

Reason #1: You Have Better Things to Do

This might be focusing on taking better care of yourself, learning a new skill, or connecting with your loved ones. Time is our most precious non-renewable resource. I’m pretty sure calorie logging and/or other forms of self-restriction doesn’t need to make the list. Give yourself a true gift and say goodbye to it once and for all. I am eternally grateful that I finally did.

Reason #2: Dieting Won’t Fix Your Self-Worth

You deserve to feel great about yourself. No matter how many times I thought I would feel good if I could just “feel comfortable in a bathing suit” I was missing the mark. Weight loss will not improve your self-worth, at least not in a lasting way. Spend some time actually examining and investing in your self-worth. There are many options here, but some include reading a great book about it or engaging in psychotherapy.

I hope you stop spinning your wheels well before I did but even if it’s been years, it’s never too late. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, after all.

Reason #3: The Diet Industry Has Made Enough Money

Spend your hard earned money in places where it’s likely to yield results, not on another diet product or tool. If it’s a tool that will truly help you eat quality foods and move more, then great. But if it’s another method to get you to restrict or sends the message that you aren’t ok as you are, there are much better places to focus your time, money and energy.

Let’s start taking a closer look at these so called “health claims” and who are the CEOs and researchers behind them. You know I’m all for good solid science, but make sure you know the motives of who is conducting the research. Because we all know we can make science back up almost any claim we want to make if we try hard enough.

Stressed about weight gain? Looking for an alternative to dieting?

I often see people struggle between two extremes. Either they are overeating and feeling out of control and off track, or they are jumping to a more rigid inflexible plan that ultimately does not last. Can you relate?

Intuitive eating or mindful eating is an excellent alternative, and yet, what does that look and feel like. How can we make healthy habit changes from a place of respecting our body, yet still stop emotional eating and feel good?

In my free 15 minute audio guide I walk you through the simple step-by-step instructions to do just that. Accept where you are, stop dieting, start living. Check it out and let me know what you think!

References

Keys, A., Brožek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L. (1950). The biology of human starvation. (2 Vols.). Univ. of Minnesota Press.