Focus on Health, Not Diets This New Year

As the new year approaches, it’s always easy to get sucked-in to the newest fad diet claims. The diet industry ramps up this time of year knowing many people gained some weight over the holidays and will be setting new year’s resolutions to lose it. It’s not surprising that weight loss becomes a focus, as our society is very focused on body image and the numbers on a scale. Don’t let yourself be fooled by all the claims you hear from the diet industry, such as promises like “rapid weight loss” while you “eat whatever you want”. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Diets in general are a set-up for relapse in disordered eating behavior. They usually involve restricting foods or food groups, severely restricting quantities of food, labeling foods as good or bad, and focusing on numbers (pounds, calories, carbs, points, etc.). These practices are not sustainable long-term, so they set us up to fail at the diet. With compulsive overeating or binge eating disorder, the restriction is the framework for the binge and diets are the preparation for relapse in this behavior. The all-or-nothing, “good food vs. bad food” mindset sets us up to feel like we’re doing something wrong if we want to enjoy a piece of birthday cake. The birthday cake then becomes more of a trigger food that we don’t allow ourselves to have… until we do and then the “all” comes in to play with the all-or-nothing mindset and we overeat or binge on the cake. This cycle harms our relationship with specific foods, and ultimately food in general.

The focus on numbers just feeds the disordered eating behaviors even more. There is an expectation that “results” with a diet equals weight loss. So, self-weighing may begin to see if we have these “results”, to see if the diet is “working”. We can feel like a failure if we don’t see the number drop. The negative feelings can trigger emotional eating, and so the cycle continues. Focusing on numbers throughout the day also takes up a lot of brain space, which can be a distraction from enjoying life, and can bring up critical messages in our heads if we don’t “get the right numbers”.

I could go on and on about each of these reasons and why diets don’t truly work. Have you experienced any of these side effects of a fad diet? Have fad diets ever worked for you in the long-term? How did you feel being on a diet? Have you set extreme resolutions before? Have you fallen victim to fad diet false claims before? These are all good questions to reflect on and discuss with your therapist and dietitian.

At Focus, we have non-diet approach to health and recovery. We promote balance and moderation with all foods, permission vs. restriction, and mindful eating. These methods produce more wellness results than just weight loss. They help you to build a healthy relationship with food, avoid disordered eating behaviors, allow time and brain space to enjoy life, and are sustainable. This year, I encourage you to turn your focus towards long-term personal health and nutrition goals, rather than a weight loss resolution.  If you’d like guidance in how to go about this, we would love to help you on this journey.

Contributed by Courtney Phifer, MS, RDN, LDN, IOP and Outpatient Dietitian for Focus Treatment Centers, Chattanooga, Tennessee

 

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Lauren Sterritt