Why Dieting Often Does More Harm Than Good

[Adina P]

Even if you lose weight and keep it off for SEVEN years, your brain is STILL going to be trying to make you regain it. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_...

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I think Karen should write two books. One for pets, one for people. :)

[Adina P]

I'm sure much of what we counsel patients overlaps :-)  The inappropriate amounts of food for inappropriate reasons is what I'd focus on in one way or another..rather than the scale.  Because too often I end up being a scale counselor.  They get dragged down when the scale doesn't budge and feel like their good work is crap.  Now as a personal trainer you can point to increased muscle mass, their ability to push/pull/lift more...but I don't have as concrete physical things to cheer people on with.  They have to find their increased relaxation around food, their ability to eat in trustworthy ways valuable enough. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not when weight is on their mind.  So that is one reason I have abandoned the scale.  There are lots of people who will help them with weight with various methods out there. 

I don't tell people to eat with reckless abandon.  I'm a big believer in meals...regular meals.  And snacks if they find they need them...but not grazing type of snacking, more or less planned snack times.  Sitting down at the table to eat, not eating in a daze in front of the tv or working while eating.  Really respect meal times and make them deliberate and important.  Eating regular meals is just part of self care.  Most people wouldn't let a young child go hours and hours without a meal on a regular basis, but they will do it to themselves.  And if they want to eat chips, by all means plan them into a meal.  Legalize them and set them on the table with the rest of their food.  Even if it is their snack.  Then actually pay attention to their food, their enjoyment, the flavor, texture, get re-acquainted with the foods they claim to LOVE.  Pay attention to their stomach's feeling and how it changes with the meal, when do they stop being hungry, when does their mouth feel satisfied, when does their stomach feel comfortably full?  When do they typically stop?  This stuff on its own takes quite a bit of time to figure out...learning to pay attention to hunger, satisfaction, satiety, fullness and seeing how it all feels and learning to stop and trust they will get good food again.  That's hard work even though it sounds simple.  And then just paying attention to how various meals make them feel.  Does the meal stick with them?  Are they hungry again in 1.5 hours?  Do they feel sluggish?  And of course differentiating between physical hunger and emotions, thirst, etc.  I'm not a therapist and sometimes there is enough stress/emotions a person is trying to cope with that they need an additional mental health counselor to work through that.  Sometimes they aren't equipped to cope with a life event/stressor and all they have is food...in such cases they NEED outside help besides me.  Because if food is the only thing that is comforting...then let them eat cake because they need something in the meantime. 

The only problem I've run into when it comes to 'moderation' is that that term can be used as a weapon or a tool.  It is a weapon when someone believes moderation is only a portion that is 'so' big and they want another bite or two but because they think that is 'wrong' they end up eating two portions.  It can be a weapon of shame and guilt...so I try to address it differently.  Moderation is different at different times and if they are 'overeating' there are other ways to tell than simply that their steak was 8 ounces instead of the 'palm of your hand' or their ice cream scoop was bigger than a half a tennis ball or whatever the portion du jour is ;-)

Okay, I have to get ready for bed.  Thanks for indulging me Karen :-) I Have no doubt you were an excellent health/weight loss/strength coach for your 600 clients!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A lot of what you discuss in that second paragraph is also what I did and do- sitting down for planned meals, eating at deliberate times and intervals, being aware of tastes, textures, hunger, satiation, etc. 

Strategies for "I don't have time to eat" meals, too. 

And I also agreed that people for whom food was the only comfort had issues beyond my scope and needed outside help. 

We are really not so different in a lot of this. LOL

Sleep well. And thank you for indulging me. 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Camilla you should watch the movie "Hungry for Change" it's about the diet industry and why diets won't work. They promote the concept of adding into your diet instead of restricting. Just keeping adding in the good stuff until it eventually pushes all the bad stuff out. You can get it on netflix.

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"They promote the concept of adding into your diet instead of restricting."

This is exactly what I was talking about. All of my great ideas eventually make it to the mainstream, lol. I really should have written a book. 

I keep hearing this "Fit Tip" commercial where a woman says that "research now shows" that you should not stretch before exercising, but rather afterwards. I was teaching that 20 years ago. 

[Adina P]

Another way Karen and I agree: add on instead of take away :-)
I'm just less of a good stuff/bad stuff type person (not saying you are, Karen).  Why does ice cream, brownies, cookies, chips and whatever else have to be 'bad' and 'pushed out' or make you feel guilty?  Why does a rich casserole have to be off limits?  Why do the Holidays have to make people afraid of all loss of control and weight gain?  I dislike the dichotomy of good food/bad food.  Yes some foods are more nutritious and contribute to physical need and yes vegetables are good for you and a lot of people could use more in their diet for health.  And obviously you can only eat so much in one sitting.  But in my opinion, positing certain foods as 'bad' (unless you are allergic to them or they make you ill) gives them more power and mystique.  I don't think it needs to be pleasure vs. health or hunger vs. fat.  People who trust themselves with food, eat regular meals of foods they enjoy, and have the discipline to eat 'meals' not graze, stop eating when they are full -- these people in general have better lab work (cholesterol, blood glucose) than those who don't.  (though I have not seen this video, so I'm not commenting on IT).  I think it would be awesome if annual physicals included a test of physical fitness--that would gauge someone's health in an excellent and more relevant (to health) way than weight alone.  It is easier to influence physical fitness than weight.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think in terms of "good" foods and "bad" foods, either. But I do think in terms of getting the most bang for my caloric bucks. I really don't think I am that unusual in that food is not the source of emotional support/gratification that it seems to be for you and for some other people. Food and eating are not emotional for me. I greatly love certain foods, I take great pleasure in eating all kinds of foods, but I am not emotional about it, and it isn't that big a deal to me. And it's more of a sensory thing for me than it is for most people, but then everything in the world is more of a sensory thing for me than for most other people, lol. It doesn't only have to do with hunger and taste. I think a lot of what people call "comfort" foods are boring and tasteless. And I have a very, very wide and highly developed palate. This is one of the few things I think my parents did right, liking all kinds of foods and exposing us to all kinds of foods, and not making one food "better" than another. For after school snacks, we were free to choose a Hostess Twinkie or a cucumber, and neither was promoted or discouraged. As a result, I chose one as often as the other, as my mood dictated, and never thought about "good" or "bad". 

But when I choose foods for meals, I just can't help "seeing" the vitamin A & C in a red bell pepper, for example. I don't know if subconsciously that makes it taste better to me and makes me want it more, but again, eating is not emotional for me. To me, If I am going to sit down and put X amount of food in my body, I want the stuff that is going to give me some nutritional benefit. This is not conscious, and I certainly don't eat things I dislike, and it certainly doesn't take away my enjoyment of the food. For my birthday dinner, I had seared (read "almost raw") Ahi tuna with ginger cilantro slaw and jasmine infused rice. It was delicious, it was beautiful visually, it smelled wonderful, it had all different colors and textures...sensual as in sensory. I didn't choose it becaue it was low cal or "healthy" or "good for me", I chose it because that's the kind of eating that truly makes me happy. 

I also ate the warm pretzel bread served before the meal, slathered with butter, and I enjoyed that too. No guilt.

And back home, I had a slice of my chocolate birthday cake covered in whipped cream and shredded coconut, and that didn't make me feel guilty, either. :) 

But i wouldn't have ordered that slice of cake for dinner. 

[Adina P]

Your parents were awesome :-)  So many parents are freaked out about feeding perfect foods.

I'm not that emotional about eating--I don't think 'emotional' maybe is the right word.  I wrote a little blurb about it on my FB page.  I'll have to post here.  I really like eating tasty food but usually my favorite meals have variety and veggies and I 'hear' you on some of the way you look at food.  But most people don't look at it that way, that is true.  We would make a decent team of dietitian and personal trainer!

[Adina P]

Here is my post on emotions and eating:  https://www.facebook.com/HealthyLittleEaters/posts/323605751114534

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We would have been the best team on the planet! 

[Leslie and Halas]

Here's kind of where I am with the "bad" foods like cookies, ice cream, etc.  It's ok to have them, but I think of them more as "enjoyment" foods. I have them because I like them, and I want them at that particular time. In other words, I'm still going to have to eat other stuff to get what my body needs.

A little pet peeve I've developed is hearing someone grab a cupcake, take a giant bite, and then berate themselves.  "Yeah, another cupcake.  Like I really need that! I'm so fat!"  Just enjoy eating your cupcake, and get on with your life.  If you already know you're going to beat yourself up about it, don't do it.  If you want it, and you're not really disappointed with yourself, then just eat it without comment.  That doesn't really have anything to do with this discussion, but someone at work does that all the time, and it drives me crazy.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

 "Just enjoy eating your cupcake, and get on with your life."

This should be embroidered on a pillow or printed on a T-shirt, it's a great great life philosophy!