What you need to know before you start your next diet

Because let’s face it, diets are ‘the norm’ in our society.

The quest for the illusive, perfect body is strong – and the expectation is that if you don’t already fit that mould, then you should at least be aspiring to do do.

If you are – once again – feeling the pull to ‘start again Monday’ or to get ‘summer body ready’ – read on.

There’s a few things you need to know before you go down that path again!

Dieting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – read on to learn the truth, and how you can still focus on ‘getting healthy’ without being stuck in a dieting rut.

Starting a new diet?

I get it – *this time*, *this one* will be different.

This time – you’ll keep up the motivation

This time – you’ll stick to the plan

This time – you wont give up, you won’t fail.

How many times have you told yourself that? Really?

Given that the average woman has tried over 60 different diets, apps, cleanses and plans before she turns 45, my guess is, it’s a lot.

So – before you start your next diet – let’s take a little look into what’s really going on for you.

It isn’t you – it’s the diet

No, really.

Diet companies (whisper it) WANT you to fail. After all – they are a business. And what does any successful business need? Paying customers. And what are the best type of paying customers? The repeat ones. The ones who love your product, who keep coming back, time and time again.

Have you ever questioned WHY you are OK with starting ‘Slimming World’ or ‘Weight Watchers’ again on Monday morning?

It’s because, for a short time at least, they made you feel great. You were proud of yourself, happy with the weight you lost – and you attributed that to them. Not the fact that you ‘failed’ after a short time or ‘stopped going to group’ or ‘stopped counting’ or ‘logging’ or ‘tracking’. Oh no – you don’t put that down to them. You put that down to you – your own lack of willpower or motivation.

I’ll let you in on a secret though – it isn’t you. It’s them. They just don’t want you to know that.

95-98% of dieters will put the weight back on again – and then some

I know, I know, ‘not this time!’ you cry…

And yes, there will always be the odd anomaly, the person who does manage to lose the weight, and keep it off long term.

But they are the very, very rare exception.

95-98% of dieters will put the weight back on again within 2-5 years of losing it. Not just the weight they lost, but a few extra pounds for good measure.

Why?

Set point theory.

The idea that every time you ‘starve’ yourself and put your body at risk of death as a result of said starvation (because remember, your body can’t distinguish between the genuine lack of food and your desire to drop a little weight), when given the opportunity to recover (the inevitable ‘binge’ part of the diet cycle) your body will grab it fully with both hands. In its mind, packing in a little extra to prevent against any future shortages – which experience tells it will come.

And so, your set point increases, little by little, every time.

Making it harder and harder for you to lose the weight, and meaning you have to eat less and less to maintain your ‘goal’ weight on the odd occasion that you do get there.

A consistent, steady weight – even if it’s a heavier one than you might like – may actually be better for you

Weight cycling - that is the continual loop of gaining weight, losing weight, gaining a little more, losing it again, gaining again, losing again and so on - as a result of diet cycling may be more harmful than just being at a heavier weight.

Staring your new diet because you want to ‘get healthy’?

I understand that – after all, the media is rife with stories that demonise ‘obesity’ – linking it to cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes – you name it, obesity seems to be the cause of it.

So it would make sense to lose weight… right?

Well actually – probably not.

Research shows that weight cycling can actually put you at increased risk of higher death rate, increased rate of osteoporosis fractures and gallstone attacks, loss of muscle tissue, high blood pressure and chronic inflammation than just remaining steady at a weight at a higher range.

Not to mention, the side effects of dieting which can include things such as disordered eating or binge eating, lower self esteem, emotional distress and anxiety and an increased level of emotional eating.

Dieting is also thought to be linked to more visceral adipose tissue – the tissue around our stomachs thought to be associated with T2 diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s, as oppose to subcutaneous fat dispersed relatively evenly around the body, a level of which is completely normal regardless of weight.

So actually, you could just be doing yourself more harm than good when you start your next diet.

Fine, Bex – so what should I actually do instead

Let me propose something to you. Something which might sound wildly ridiculous and silly.

Just stop dieting.

Stop focusing on weight loss as a marker of health.

Stop believing that you can overcome your bodies innate sense of survival which has been hard-wired in over thousands of years.

You can’t.

Now, I understand that this is going to be much, much easier said than done.

After all, dieting is all that you’ve known for the last however many years.

BUT – look at what you’ve learned today.

You now know that dieting companies actually WANT you to fail – even they know that their plans aren’t sustainable long term. Ultimately, they are commercial businesses, and any commercial business thrives off repeat clients.

You know that chances are you’ll put the weight back on again – much as you may not want to admit it to yourself – and hey, I don’t want to be a negative nana here but really, what do you honestly believe will be different this time? After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different outcome…

You’ve also learned that weight cycling may actually be more harmful to your health than actually just staying at a steady, consistent weight – albeit one which is perhaps higher than you would ideally like.

But – if your goal is to ‘get healthy’ as it often is when you embark on a diet, perhaps you should be looking elsewhere to gain that health-promoting behavior?

That’s exactly why I created my free, online community - to create a safe place where like-minded women could come together and break free from dieting, once and for all.

Within it, I share free live trainings and plenty of tips and resources - and I’d love to see you there!

I can’t wait to see you there!

I love to talk about food and mindset in my online Facebook Community, and I’d love to hear from you! Did this article make you think twice about starting a new diet? Join now to have your say. I can’t wait to meet you!