Tell me if I’m wrong – If I tell you that you are not allowed to touch your face for the next 2 minutes. What happens? The first instinct you get is the itching sensation and the urge to touch your face. Or picture this: you enjoy chocolate every now and then but if suddenly your doctor says: “stay away from chocolates for 1 week” every single day of that week you think about chocolate. The very moment you think “food limitation” your mind starts fighting back. Here is what else happens to us in the process:
PSYCHOLOGICALLY
By now perhaps the majority of adults on this planet have learned, by experience, that food restriction leads to binge eating. The word “Diet” puts our subconscious on high alert. Our minds are now over-sensitized to this word such that it can trigger a chain of unwanted inner reactions. It is now scientifically proven – The suppression of a particular thought often results in the subsequent increased return of the unwanted thought, a phenomenon termed the ‘rebound effect’ (Wegner et al., 1987).
PHYSICALLY
Psychological effects aside, dieting has pretty serious physical consequences. Most diets are calorie restrictive, and they strip your body of the nutrients your body so desperately needs such as fats and carbs. Your vital functions and optimum metabolism depend on these elements provided by sensible eating. To have the mental clarity and focus to navigate smoothly through your day, you need to feed your body. Supplements may make all sorts of promises to replace these essential nutrients but their rate of absorbance by the body has always been questionable.
EMOTIONALLY
Diets make you feel hungry, grumpy, agitated, irritated, and deprived. Tell me the last time you were on a diet and you were happy and chirpy. Diets complicate life. Enough planning is going into our busy and full schedules as it is and the last thing we need is a distraction. Do you think a clear, focused mind is achievable by being obsessed over what we should or should not eat? Can you concentrate fully on the task at hand when all you think about is when is the next snack time because you’re simply hungry? Will you be less or more stressed as a result of all these?
IS THERE TRUTH IN DIETS
A lot of diets are industry driven. They lead you in a direction to consume certain products or supplements. Low-fat, low-salt, sugar-free, no-carb, gluten-free, fat-free, low-calorie, high-protein, etc. These products are the very definition of “processed food” and I think we all agree processing food lessens its nutritious value and can be harmful to the body.
Another issue is this, with every single person being unique physically, mentally, and emotionally; how can one type of diet be suitable for all? Worst yet, most of the known diets out there haven’t been studied for long enough or tested on a sizable number of people to draw a reliable conclusion from. Additionally, diets tend to imply an “end” to the diet period, while eating journey should be a way of life.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT STRATEGY
- Change your motive and mindset – The goal is not to change the number on the scale, the goal is to care for your body and make it healthier.
- Change your relationship with food – Eating is not wrong, food is not the enemy. You are not starving yourself, you are feeding your body right.
- Develop patience – It has taken 10,20,…years of your life to be at your current state of health, so allow the process to take its course. There’s no quick fix!
- Learn to nourish your body with food, movement, love and respect. Make a commitment to this lifestyle.
- If need be seek professional advice about the right food choices.
REFRENCES
How To Heal Your Metabolism – Kate Deering
Thoughts On Suppression
James A.K. Erskine is in the School of Population Health Sciences and Education, St George’s, University of London
George J. Georgiou is in the School of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire
