The real diet story
I want to talk about diets. A lot. Diet and self-regulation is something that will be mentioned many times on this blog. First, I want to define the word diet in itself: when I speak of diets in this blog post I am talking about certain restrictive eating patterns in order to reach specific weight, body or health goals. But diet can also simply refer to how the regular eating patterns of an individual or a collective group or culture is. I think it’s important to note this difference in how the word is used.
Many people strive towards changing their eating habits and lose weight/get in better shape, but have trouble succeeding. 1/3 in Norway say they have body issues, and many of these people are constantly or repeatedly trying to control their food intake with a goal of losing weight. That’s a lot of people. At the same time the rate of overweight and obese people is increasing, and the diet industry is a growing field.
The funny thing is repeated studies show how being on a diet and constant effort to control ones food intake/body weight may itself increase attention towards food and lead to self-regulation failure (I will get back to this in a different post). It is also related to a complicated relationship with food and eating disorders. Girls who diet in their teenage years are more likely to be overweight and become yoyo-dieters later. Even if they started at a normal weight. The same predictors that made them overweight, made them also develop eating disorders (that is so interesting – don’t you think?)!
Many coaches out there will show you their client’s «before-after»-pictures. Many times these pictures also have an «after-after»-side to them – but you will never see or hear about it. Did you know that almost every participant of the Biggest Looser has gained back all their weight (some even more)? Why do you think that is? And how do you believe it will be different for you if you strongly restrict your food intake for weeks or months? Are you going to restrict yourself your entire life? Expecting long-term results from a diet you’re finding difficult on day 3, for example, won’t give you a stable and positive mind set.
The truth is that we tend to want the results as fast as possible. We want the cure before we put in an effort. I think this has something to do with how society today works. Always connected and on, never off. Social media has tricked everyone into believing anything can be fixed in ten days, three, four, six or (tops!) eight weeks. It creates good headlines and attracts your attention. However, it simply is not the reality. Instead, it keeps you coming back for more. If you have spent years getting to where you are today, it will take work, patience, consistency and time to change it. But of course it is possible! Anything is, as long as you commit to it.
I will end this post with asking you some simple questions:
- How many times have you tried a diet?
- Did it work? If so, for how long could you sustain it?
- Why are you looking to diet again?
- Did your quality of life drop whilst dieting?
Even though you manage to answer these questions in a truthful way, the chances of you thinking something like: “But, if I just pull it together this time” or “It’s different now” are still pretty big. We tend to fall for the same bad habits repeatedly. As cheesy and cliché as it sounds the phrase “to get a different result, you have to do something you haven’t done before” is actually kind of true.
