I don’t get it.I don’t get how after trying so many different diets out there people still think that the answer to weight loss is the next new diet.
I don’t believe in dieting and I never have. Here’s why:
1) Have you ever heard someone talk about a diet? They say things like “I’m going to start my diet on Monday” or “I’ve started my diet” – the laws of nature or grammar or something imply that if you START something then eventually you STOP it. Diets don’t work because no one can stay on a diet forever. You get the result (weight loss) when you’re on the diet and then typically the weight is regained once you stop said diet, yes? I’m hoping you’re nodding your head in agreement here.
2) The reason you can’t stay on a diet forever is typically because they are severely restrictive. They either recommend that you drastically cut back on how much food you eat and your caloric intake and/or totally omit complete food groups (dairy, grain carbs, no fat). When you drastically restrict your intake you end up in the world of denial and deprivation – it’s not a fun world to live in. In fact, it sucks.
So if I don’t believe in dieting why do I believe in not over-eating? Isn’t that the same thing?
No. Not at all. A diet is often a drastic reduction in quantity of food and calories like I mentioned above – it’s not sustainable for the rest of your life. Whereas over-eating means consistently consuming more than your body can handle. It doesn’t mean you binge.
I hear the same thing from a lot of women, “But Jen, I don’t eat that much” – and many women truly think this, so I ask them to tell me what they eat and drink for a week. When I take a look at what they write down I’m never surprised to hear that they’re struggling with weight loss. They simply eat too much and don’t understand the impact of many of their choices.
What most women (and men) need to do to slowly lose weight is to return to normalized eating – that means:
• decreasing the supersized portions that we now consider “normal” and truly understanding what an appropriate serving size is
• eating when you’re physiologically hungry and start to recognize what you’re emotionally hungry for – knowing that food can never fill that void
• stop the mindless munching and bring awareness back to understanding the impact their food and drink choices have on their body and consciously start making different choices.
What tends to happen though is women swing between the two extremes: dieting and overeating – If they could find the happy middle ground between the two weight loss would be much easier.
Slower, but easier and the result would stick.
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