Author: Angela Swaan – Nutritional Therapist, Ambassador of the World Healthy Living Foundation

How many popular diets do we have out there? As you are probably aware, there are thousands of them, and most of them work. At least at the beginning stage of “dieting”. You also may hear that 2/3 of dieters will gain back more weight than they lost initially, and it’s all because of restrictions which take you nowhere.

Studies show that people fail at weight-loss diets because they don’t stick with them. The moment people go “off” the diet plan, they typically eat the way they did before, thus gaining back the weight. So the most effective weight loss plan is one that you can stick with.

Some years ago, I made one of the best decisions in my life as my New Year’s resolution. I gave up dieting, stopped worrying about my weight, and learned to eat mindfully. So, what happened next? I gained some weight to learn how to control my body and get the needed skills. Right now, I eat whenever I feel hungry, and it works. I started my first diet ages ago when I was a teenager and looked quite skinny. I now look at that picture and think: “you did not need a diet; you needed a fashion consult!” But I thought I needed to lose weight, and when I gained it back, of course, I blamed myself for the next three decades. I was on and off various diets; no matter what I tried, it always came back.

I’m sure many of you know the feeling. I wondered why is it so hard? Obviously, how much you weigh depends on how much you eat and how much energy you burn. But most people don’t realize that the brain controls hunger and energy – mostly without your awareness. Your brain does a lot of the work “behind the scenes”, which is good because your conscious mind is easily distracted. It’s good that you don’t have to remember to breathe when you get caught up in a movie; you don’t forget how to walk just because you’re thinking about what to have for dinner. Your brain also has its own sense of what you should do, no matter what you consciously believe. The hypothalamus (a forebrain region) regulates body weight and sends more than a dozen chemical signals from the brain. It tells your body to keep the system thermostat responding to calls from the body by adjusting hunger activity and metabolism to keep your weight stable.

The temperature in your house works the same way. As the weather changes outside, you can try to change the temperature in your home by opening a window in the winter. But that will not change the setting on the thermostat, which will respond by kicking on the furnace to warm the place back up. Your brain works precisely the same way. It responds to weight loss by using powerful tools that push your body back to what it considers normal.

Scientists have found that people have lost 10% of their body weight and burnt 250 to 400 calories less because their metabolism is suppressed. Sadly, a temporary week game can become a permanent stay at a high weight for too long. For most of us, your brain may decide that this is the new normal psychology class fighters in two groups:

1) those who rely on their hunger and

 2) Like most dieters, those who try to control your eating through power.

In which column are intuitive eaters and controlled eaters? Interestingly, the first group is more likely to be overweight and spend more time thinking about food. Whereas controlled eaters are more vulnerable to overeating in response to advertising supersizing, and they all-you-can-eat-buffet.

Children are especially vulnerable. Several long-term studies have shown that girls who went on a diet in their early teenage years are three times more likely to become overweight five years later. Even if they start at a normal weight, all of these studies found that the same factors that predicted weight gain also predicted the development of eating disorders. By the way, those of you who are parents and were being teased by family members about your weight – don’t repeat it.

Based on eating enough fruits and vegetables, exercising three times a week, not smoking and drinking in moderation. Let’s start by looking at the average weight of people (we can use BMI as an example). In the study, we counted the number of those healthy habits the person had. Now let’s look at what happens in overweight people who have no healthy habits and have a higher risk of death.

 Adding just one healthy habit hole, overweight people get back into the normal range for obese people. The problem with all diets is that they don’t teach any habits. Most often, people who follow specific pre-planned diets feel uncomfortable or unnatural because they have to follow or eat the foods they don’t like, just because they think they will help them lose weight.

We don’t lose weight because of some food; we lose weight when we burn fewer calories than we put inside our bodies during the day from food and drinks. That shows that habits are the key to making a little difference. You can take control of your health by taking control of your lifestyle even if you think you can’t lose weight and keep it off diets.

A lot of weight gain leads to the point when you’re not hungry, and you give yourself permission to eat as much as you want, and then you work on figuring out what makes your body feel good during regular meals without distractions. Think about how your body feels when you start and stop eating.

 Let your hunger decide when you should be done. It took me about a year to learn this, but it’s really been worth it. I am so much more relaxed around food than I have ever been in my life. I often don’t think about it. I forget we have chocolate in the house. It’s just completely different than it used to be before. I should say that this approach to eating probably won’t make you lose weight unless you go off and eat when you’re not hungry, but this mindset is the first step to keeping your healthy weight for a lifetime!

Most doctors don’t know of any approach that makes significant weight loss. It’s a shame that some of them still believe the ‘eat less, move more’ when it’s not this easy. It’s not about eating less. It’s about focusing on needs and the food quality you put into your body.

That is why many people are now focusing on preventing weight gain instead of promoting weight loss. Let’s face it, we all have been thin already! We repeat the same thing and expect different results. Diet may seem harmless, but they do a lot of damage. At worst, they ruin lives when obsession leads to eating disorders, especially in young kids. In the US, 80% of 10-year-old girls say they’ve been on a diet. What if we told all those dieters and girls that it’s OK to eat when they’re hungry with their appetite instead of fearing it. I think most of them would be happier and healthier, and as adults, probably thinner. I wish someone had told me that back when I was 13 ★

Reference list

• Karlsson, M. (2019). Why trusting your gut is the best diet | Madeleine Karlsson | TEDxLakeForestCollege. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fVk37AKOk0.
• Lydon, K. (2019). Can you Lose Weight with Intuitive Eating? [online] Kara Lydon. Available at: https://karalydon.com/intuitive-eating/can-you-lose-weight-with-intuitive-eating/.
• Mayo, K. (2015). Mindful Eating with Mayo | Karen Mayo | TEDxWilmington. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtOU4f3smt4 [Accessed 27 Mar. 2020].