One Reason You Keep Dieting. Even When You Know Dieting Doesn’t Work.

This may be hard to hear. 

When I interviewed Virginia Sole-Smith on my Hungry: Trust Your Body. Free Your Mind podcast, she confessed something that I’ve heard before and I could personally relate to. 

She knew that diets didn’t work. But that didn’t stop her from trying to lose weight. She told herself that she'd be the exception. She would be the 5% (it’s well documented and researched that 95% of diets only lead to weight gain after 3 years). She wanted to be her own “after” picture. 

Virginia and I both talked about our determination. Our discipline. Our strong work ethic. 

We both concluded, without telling a soul, that we had what it took to lose weight and keep it off. 

Although it’s painful to admit, we considered ourselves not only to be the exception, but BETTER people than the vast majority of diet failures. 

And it’s not surprising that we held this belief.  Considering what we commonly hear from folks that just lost weight on a diet.  

If I can do this, you can too. 

It was hard for me at first, but it’s so worth it. 

My life has changed now that I’ve lost all of this weight. 

Diet culture tells us to be strong, hopeful and never to give up. 

Even when we understand science. Our body is designed to protect and defend its set point. Significant weight loss isn’t possible because our body will override any conscious decision-making and ensure that we eat by increasing our drive to eat and slowing our metabolism. 

We live in a world where we are told our body isn’t good enough. After all, a “perfect” body is reserved for a very small margin of folks. Six pack abs are rarely achievable without genetics, significant time and an army of resources. 

If you live in a body that’s not perfect, you’ve already been told you’re a failure. And who wants to be a failure? 

No one. Our one way of digging ourselves out of feeling like a failure is to be exceptional. 

We need to prove we aren’t a failure. We need to prove that diet, restriction and weight loss are something we can accomplish. 

Consider the popular, yet controversial reality TV show The Biggest Loser. An interesting play on words. Taken one way, each contestant is called a big loser. Or a fat failure.  Taken another way, the winner is the contest that lost the most weight. 

Do we need any other proof than that to summarize exactly how you may be feeling about your body weight? 

You may feel really trapped. You may NEED to prove your worth and without a diet and weight loss plan, you feel defeated because you’ll be stuck in a body that’s just wrong. 

Moving out of this trap takes a few steps. 

Understand the role diet culture has played in your belief that your body is wrong and that you need to fix it. 

Be open to the real science of setpoint. I wrote more about it here. Your body is brilliant at keeping itself in balance. 

It’s okay that you wanted to be the exception. You are exceptional. But you don’t need to lose weight to prove that to yourself or anyone else. 

Allow your body to take the lead. Start to be curious about its signals. With practice, you’ll eventually trust it to guide you and your health and well-being. 

Important Science You Need To Know About Weight Loss

Let’s talk about setpoint

I'm sharing much of the science from Dr. Lindo Bacon and Health At Every Size. Learn more here https://haescommunity.com/

Every body has a unique set point, which is the amount of fat storage and bodyweight that is optimal for the body to protect itself.

Although set point can’t be determined by a formula or in a laboratory, it’s estimated that your setpoint falls within a range of 5-20 pounds. 

When your body is below your setpoint, your body will start to defend its setpoint by: 

• Increasing hunger signals, including a desire to eat a wider variety of foods. 

• Reducing fullness signals, and 

• Slowing metabolism. 

This is one of the reasons 95% of dieters gain weight within 3 years. Our bodies won’t tolerate being at a weight below our setpoint. Your brain will work with other systems in your body to ensure your body comes back to its ideal weight. 

When your body is below its setpoint, you’ll notice: 

• You get cold easily. 

• You’re preoccupied with thoughts of food. 

• Low energy, irritability, and loss of interest to do pleasurable activities. 

When your body is above its setpoint, you’ll: 

• Have a hard time recognizing physical hunger. 

• Often eat beyond comfortable fullness. 

• Skip meals and then overeat. 

• Eat for coping, comfort, or distraction. 

• Overeat because of guilt and when you fall off of your diet. 

What to do: 

• Restoring your body to its setpoint takes time and patience. 

• If your body is not at its setpoint, it’s because you’ve overridden your body’s signals. There is a variety of reasons you’ve done this. This isn’t something to feel ashamed or bad about. Diet culture encourages us to follow diet rules over the signals of our body. 

• Start by listening and tuning into your own hunger and fullness. This can often be a challenge if you’ve been chronically dieting, emotionally eating, and engaging in other coping strategies. 

But remember, your body knows these signals. It may just take time and reassurance to get reacquainted with them.