Say No to Dieting

November 2008

I’d like to address something we often do to ourselves during the winter months, which can be a very dangerous habit- going on a diet. Due to weather conditions, a lot of us aren’t as physically active during the colder months and tend to eat heartier foods to stay warm. The result? Weight gain. It’s usually not anything drastic- often an extra five to ten pounds. Come the end of December, we stand in front of our full-length mirrors full of self-recrimination at the fact that we look slightly ‘puffier’ than we did last summer. Then comes the inevitable pledge to ourselves- the dreaded “New Year’s Resolution” to lose ____ pounds by ______(fill in your own blanks)…

Then we enthusiastically (or solemnly) embrace the latest fad diet with intense resolve and determination; often starving ourselves until we’ve lost the amount of weight we set out to. We are pleased with ourselves for a short time at our accomplishment, only to be deflated of all hope when a few weeks/months later we’ve regained back all of the original weight plus more!

Why is this? Because diets don’t work! 95% of dieters regain all the weight lost plus add on some extra each time they diet. For the rest of this article, I’d like to present some information that will help you to let go of dieting. If you want to give up dieting permanently, pick up a copy of my up-coming book or audio program entitled, “It’s Not About the Food: A Woman’s Guide to Making Peace With Food and Our Bodies” at www.endyoureatingdisorder.com

Here are some Dieting Facts:

• At least 50% of young girls in Canada begin dieting before the age of nine: 81% of 10-year olds diet and at least 46% of 9-year-olds restrict eating
• 7-17 year-olds are the heaviest users of diet pills in the U.S.
• 71% of adolescent girls want to be thinner despite only a small proportion being over a healthy weight
• The fear of fat is so overwhelming that young girls have indicated in surveys that they are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of cancer, nuclear war, or losing their parents.

Dieting Leads to Serious Eating Disorders:

• 90% of those with an eating disorder are female
• Eating disorders are now the third most common chronic illness in adolescent girls
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
• While the most common age of onset is between 14 and 25 years of age, eating disorders occur in a wide range of ages, and are increasingly seen in children as young as 10
• The death rate associated with anorexia nervosa alone is more than 12 times higher than the overall death rate among young women in the general population
• It is estimated that 3% of women will be affected by eating disorders in their lifetime

Top 10 Reasons to Give Up Dieting

1. Diets don’t work. Even if you lose weight, you will probably gain it all back, and you might gain back more than you lost.
2. Diets are expensive. If you didn’t buy special diet products, you could save enough to get new clothes, which would improve your outlook right now.
3. Diets are boring. People on diets talk and think about food and practically nothing else. There’s a lot more to life than food.
4. Diets don’t necessarily improve your health. Like the weight loss, health improvement is temporary. Dieting can actually cause health problems.
5. Diets don’t make you beautiful. Very few people will ever look like models. Glamour is a look, not a size. You don’t have to be thin to be attractive.
6. Diets are not sexy. If you want to be more attractive, take care of your body and your appearance. Feeling healthy makes you look your best.
7. Diets can turn into life-threatening eating disorders. The obsession to be thin can lead to anorexia, bulimia, bingeing, and compulsive exercising.
8. Diets can make you afraid of food. Food nourishes and comforts us, and gives us pleasure. Dieting can make food seem like your enemy, and can deprive you of all the positives about food.
9. Diets can rob you of energy. If you want to lead a full and active life, you need good nutrition, and enough food to meet your body’s needs.

And the number one reason to give up dieting…

10. Learning to love and accept yourself just as you are will give you self-confidence, better health, and a sense of well being that will last a lifetime.

*Adapted from the 1994 Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, Inc.