We know you’re inundated with messages from every corner during this season telling you about why you SHOULD diet. But we can guarantee you, the diet industry does not have your best interest at heart. It never has, it never will. So here are 3 reasons NOT to buy into a diet hype.
- At its core, the diet industry is about make money
Why do diets fail a majority of the time? The diet industry, the media, the advertisers, have never had your best interest at heart. They continue to make money off of a diet failing and you returning to try a new one down the road. They are capitalizing off of body hatred, off of the belief that your body is bad and must be changed, be molded to be ok. And the rules about what to eat, how to exercise, how to present yourself continuously change. In the 1930’s it was all about grapefruits and shakers, in the 60’s and 70’s it moves to diet shakes and diet pills, the 80’s and 90’s saw the blossoming of the current diet industry’s theme dujour— drawing in celebrities and supermodels as spokespeople. But one thing remains consistent— if any of these things worked, produced the results of happiness and security with one’s body being worthy, then the game would be over. The diet industry would have nothing else to offer. Done. Period. Take this diet pill and you’re happy with your thighs. But that’s not the point, the point is to keep making you come back time and time again to learn the new rules, to conform to a new ideal body type in order to feel secure. Try this new fad diet and it promises inches off of your waist. It doesn’t work and a new one is offered. Rinse, wash, repeat.
- 95% of diet attempts fail at creating lasting weight loss
Oftentimes we think that this is the failure of us, the consumer, who doesn’t have enough willpower or fortitude to stick with the diet at hand. Nope, not true. The failure comes into play on the diet industry end. The diet industry set up unrealistic intake ideals for our bodies. And naturally, we are not able to stick with these starvation diets because we are grossly undernourished whether that be with a calorie deficit or a loss of whole food groups that are necessary for our bodies health. This leads to slowed metabolism and increased cravings for the nutrients we’re missing in our intake. Conversely, our bodies are set up in a way to operate at their optimal and healthiest place when they are fully nourished and at their natural body size.
- Bodies are diverse in size, and change throughout time
Instead of forcing your mind’s expectations on to your body, why not start to allow yourself to think about what your body actually needs instead? Diet culture will tell you that your waist should be this size, your thighs this size etc. But that is not necessarily what your body needs. And another diet, even if it does bring about short change in your physical appearance, will not fix the self-hatred that you’ve experienced about your body throughout the years. In fact, quite the opposite can happen when you attempt to fix your body with a diet. Research indicates that those who chronically diet end up in cycles of anger and frustration with their body, feeling frustrated when it won’t conform to ideals that have been created by the diet industry.
The diet industry doesn’t know what your body needs. The diet industry doesn’t know what size your body should be.
Set point theory comes into play here. What is set point theory? The set point model relies on the concept of a genetic preset weight range that’s controlled by biological signals. The body has a regulatory system that keeps you at a steady-state level, or set point. Each of our bodies have a weight that they should be at to be at their place of health. And that set point even has a range to it, what we are not talking about here is a specific number we stay at for our total lives. This is a number that shifts throughout time. But I’ll cue you into something very important with this number, it is not determined by a standard set by some major company in New York City. It’s your body’s own determination, set into motion by several factors including genetics and body type.
So please don’t buy into another diet this New Years season. Your body is good enough as it is.
New year, same you.