I HATE DIETS!

This is why I HATE DIETS! When I see females having body complexes, my heart goes out to them. I think back to where my struggles started from as a 16 year old trying to obtain that so called “Perfect Body.”

Diets may work for a time. If we eat less and stop eating certain foods, we will lose weight. However, the weight we lose is mainly water or lean tissue, not just FAT! Research consistently shows that only about five percent of us will keep off the lost weight.

Our weight and our body shape and size depend on our genes, our body's metabolism, and the way we live. If we live a generally healthy lifestyle, our body stays within a stable weight range. This is called our "set point", and it is the weight range at which we are healthiest.

Our set point can be changed if we constantly lose and gain weight. If this happens, our bodies could raise their normal set point weights and slow our metabolism to keep it there. This is our body’s way of trying to protect itself. It doesn't know the difference between a famine and a diet.

Diets set us up to fail. This "failure" makes us feel guilty and adds to bad feelings we may already have, like low self-esteem, or dislike of our bodies. We are surrounded by messages that anyone can lose weight as long as we have the right attitude and will power.

This makes it hard to remember just how unhelpful diets really are. Diets are difficult to follow. They restrict what we need or enjoy. So, we start to crave or obsess about the foods we're trying to avoid.

At this point we tend to 'break' our diet. And then we feel we have failed rather than recognizing that it is the diet that has failed.

People diet for many different reasons. We may think that being thinner will make us happier. Diets or some other strict routine can also make us feel like we're accomplishing something. By sticking to the rules we are rewarded, at first, by losing weight and by people complimenting us. But, this won't last and nothing else really changes.

So ask, "Why do I want to lose weight?" Are your hopes for a smaller body realistic? How would your life change?

There are realistic ways to get to a healthy weight:

·       Learn about healthy eating and establish a pattern of normal eating NOT “DIET THINKING”.

·       Try not to label some foods as "Good" and some foods "Bad". All foods have a place in your life.

·       Learn about appropriate portion sizes. Serving Size, guys!

·       Be active in ways that you find to be fun. This will make it more likely that you exercise regularly. If you do these things you are likely to find that, after a while, your body will settle at its natural "set weight". Feelings of frustration, tiredness, mood swings and binge eating that you might have experienced while on a diet will lessen, and may go away completely.