Thinking of trying that “one last diet”?

Can you relate to this line of thinking?

I know dieting doesn’t work long-term, and eventually I really want to try mindful and Intuitive Eating. But I’m at my highest weight now, so I’m going to try just this one last diet to get the weight off. And THEN I’ll work on my relationship with food once I’m more comfortable in my body. Because my body right now is unacceptable.

I get it. It’s hard to imagine listening and trusting your body more when you’re so invested in the idea of changing it asap. While more people these days seem to agree with the idea that “diets don’t work,” the seductive magical thinking of “just this one last diet” is…huge. Plus, wouldn’t it be amazing if all those dieting claims were true?

But of course they’re not. Most companies don’t want you to know there’s overwhelming research that dieting causes harm physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

You might be tempted to hop back on the dreadful diet rollercoaster thinking the worst that can happen is that you don’t lose as much weight as you hope. But let’s take a moment to consider some of the known unwanted side effects, including:

Physical

• Decreased metabolism (how your body adapts to restrictive eating)
• Increased bingeing, especially on “forbidden foods,” which are now more rewarding to the brain
• Increased risk of disordered eating
• Low energy
• Decreased ability to identify subtle hunger or comfortable fullness
• Sleep problems
• Increased weight gain. Dieting is a consistent predictor of weight gain. Up to two-thirds of people who start a diet will eventually weigh more than when they started. Dieting is the one known way to increase your body’s setpoint (the weight range your body feels best at and naturally wants to be). Also, there’s not one single study showing that any diet leads to sustainable weight loss.

Mental & Emotional

• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Low mood and depression
• Increased food fears
• Decreased focus and concentration
• Feelings of deprivation
• Increased stress in social situations
• Less presence with others and life in general
• Increased hopelessness
• Increased guilt and shame
• Decreased body trust, leading to decreased overall self-trust
• And more…

We’re at an annoying time of year media-wise with all the diet ads (et tu, Oprah?) It’s tempting to buy into the promises that you’re just a 30-day challenge away from food and body confidence. But if you take a moment to look at the evidence and your years of experience, what do you already know? If you find yourself fantasizing about that one diet that “worked,” what happened after it stopped “working?”

Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Any time we do something counterculture—like intuitive eating—we need support. Community. People who get it and can compassionately remind you of what’s true. That’s why I’m excited to share these upcoming resources with you:

• Be Nourished’s No More Weighting: An Exploration of Body Trust™ Wellness 6-week e-course beginning 2/8.
• Sibel Golden, PhD’s Real Food + Real Beauty Revolution – a 6-week self-paced course starting 1/11!
• Marcie Leek’s gentle Befriending Your Body Yoga series for plus-size women in Wedgwood (check out her other series too, including Stress Rx Yoga and Moving Through Grief)
• Rachel Cole’s Feast – a 3-month journey to becoming a Well-fed woman beginning 2/1. Application deadline is 1/15. (And here’s A Useful and Incomplete List of Bright Lights recently compiled by Rachel to help you change the media you consume. I’m honored to have Mindful Nutrition in this company.)

Let’s not allow 2016 to feel like you’re living the movie Groundhog’s Day with another diet/cleanse/detox/challenge/program that further disconnects you from your body and mind. May 2016 bring you more of whatever it is you’re truly longing for—peace, comfort, belonging, connection, love.

Minh-Hai Alex, MS, RDN, RYT( Dietitian and Nutrition Therapist )

I’m grateful to be doing work that is so rewarding, supporting people to have a better relationship with their food, body and mind.

My approach is strengths-based, trauma-informed, weight-inclusive (Health At Every Size based) and grounded in cultural humility.

Both my nutrition therapy and body-based practices are influenced by a wide range of teachings and modalities that allow my approach to be both eclectic and more effective than simply working with one lens or modality.

By working together, I hope you’ll gain insight, compassion and tools to feel more resourced and confident about how you feed and care for yourself – well after our time together ends.