I need to do something to get my weight under control

Diets are everywhere.  They are a part of our culture.  Thin is seen as best and we will do anything to get ourselves to that thin ideal.  Diet culture is everywhere and now being disguised as healthy lifestyle plans, detox or other diet lingo that in one way or another tells you what to eat, how much to eat, what foods or food groups to eliminate and when to eat leaving the dieter cranky and craving what it is they are not “supposed” to have.

While any diet may work to help you loose weight in the short term approximately 95% of dieters will regain the weight in the long term.  Therefore, DIETS DO NOT WORK!  It is estimated that individual dieters try 4-5 diets per year.

So what’s the problem with diets?

Diets cause people to fall into a “diet-binge cycle.”  This cycle looks like this:

You are standing in front of your bathroom mirror and you say to yourself, “My stomach is too round, my thighs are too fat and my hips are way too wide.”

“I need to do something to get my weight under control.”

“I am going to start a diet on Monday.”

MOST DIETS BEGIN WITH NEGATIVE BODY THOUGHTS.  This comes from the 1,500 advertisements from the multiple streams of media we consume daily of the very tall and very thin ideal body type.

The idea of starting a diet brings about a little internal high or relief.  Because we have reached the conclusion that loosing weight is the ticket out of negative body image and body discomfort.  But often our issues run much deeper and our body is merely a mask we use to fix ourself when other things feel astray within our soul.

Aren’t you beginning to see though that it IS NOT ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT?!

Now move forward to a week or a month after beginning the diet and the enormous pull to eat some of those “bad” foods that are not on your diet.  So you reach for those chips, pizza or ice cream and can’t stop.  This binge causes HUGE feelings of shame, guilt, depression, anxiety and failure because you did not have enough “willpower” to stick to your diet.

To deal with these binge-eating experiences you look in the mirror and decide to get back on your diet tomorrow.  And the cycle continues…

There is hope.  There is a way out of hating your body, chronic dieting, disordered eating and this never ending diet-binge cycle.  Let me introduce you to two alternative paradigms to approaching your eating, health, weight and body dissatisfaction: Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size.

If your are shocked at what you are reading and want to learn more visit our newly update Resources page for recommended reading.  If you are looking for something more individual or group counseling could be a safe place for you to grow, learn and explore how freedom can be found in your body and with food.

Stay tuned for the next blog in this series where we explore Intuitive Eating.

Encounter Counseling Center offers quality individual, couples and Christian Counseling services in Grand Junction, Colorado. 

*Source: Beyond a Shadow of a Diet by Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel