Why Weight? Diets Don't Work.
We have all noticed you can’t turn on the TV, drive down the road or go to a party without being confronted with America’s hottest obsession: weight. Diets are a billion-dollar industry; companies spend millions and millions luring you to try the latest diet (low carb, high protein, low fat, no fat, you name it) with promises that this will (finally!) be the quick fix you have been looking for. Advertising efforts also deeply affect our children, who develop distorted body images and are often on diets as early as age 9 or 10.
However, the current culture touting the “magic pills” of conveniences, extremes and excesses as a means to finally help us achieve our desired weight has backfired. America’s populace has reached its highest weight in history. About ½ of Americans are overweight; 1/3 are obese. Diets steer us away from our common sense and dip deeply into our pocketbooks, while eliciting few, if any, lasting results.
Diets don’t work because each person is unique with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone? Diets don’t work because of their extreme, restrictive nature. Like physics, if a pendulum swings to one extreme, it has to swing equally to the other. Although a diet might work for a short amount of time, research shows that almost all diets result in a 10 pound gain after all the pendulum swinging is done. Diets don’t work, not because the people on the diets are flawed, but because the diets by nature require will-power, discipline and restriction in amounts that are unsustainable by a healthy human body.
In our fast paced world, we have lost sight of the value of slowing down, eating a home cooked meal and pausing to think about everything else in our lives besides food that really nourishes our bodies. Most people are disconnected to why they gained the weight in the first place, seeing food as the only culprit. For example, ignoring or discounting emotions is often the first thing to cause weight imbalances. Eating consciously and making simple lifestyle changes will reap positive results and help end the notion that the latest diet will set you free.
Balance and a sustainable weight are your birthright. Truly, there is no such thing as a quick fix. Given half a chance, the body will balance itself by itself, but this is only possible by getting off the diet mentality and listening to what you truly need. Imagine taking all of the outward energy that is spent on investing in diets, fads and gimmicks and turning it inward, listening to your intuition, your heart and your inner wisdom. All that you need lies within. With careful thought and loving reflection, you can feed yourself wisely and purposefully, feeling completely nourished. Working with your body rather than against it will bring about increased energy, stabilized weight, and sustainable, lasting health.
Used with permission from Integrative Nutrition.