What Diets Are Actually Doing To You

The increase of weight-gain and obesity in this country has caused the diet industry to explode. People are constantly looking for a “quick fix” solution through diet pills, special machines, meal programs, meal replacement drinks, and diet regiments. However, there are some unforeseen effects of this diet culture:

• Diets promote competition and comparison. They make us objects—not people. Shows like The Biggest Loser exemplify this type of competitive, degrading culture.

• Through diets, we give our power to others. Our emotions are dictated by what registers on the bathroom scale. Our day can be destroyed in an instant if we wake up, weigh ourselves, and discover we’ve gained a pound. That’s why we say: Put the scale in the closet!

• We tend to judge ourselves as good or bad depending on whether we are on a diet. Diets create artificial control. They insult our intelligence. Diets impose a moral judgment, and they distort reality.

• Diets teach and perpetuate mind games. They counsel us to procrastinate: I’ll start later, after this big piece of apple pie with ice cream.

• Diets keep us from success. They block our progress. Friday night you go out for a lovely dinner. Bur you started your diet the preceding Monday. Now it’s dessert time, and you say to yourself, “This has been such a great dinner. I deserve this high-calorie piece of cheesecake.” Bingo! The mind game at work. You eat the dessert and instead of enjoying it, you feel guilty. Now you feel so bad about your minor defeat that you go home and clean out the half-gallon of ice cream that’s in the fridge. And there’s the point. The dessert at the fine restaurant would not have killed you if you had a whole-person approach to weight, which does not demand dieting.

Those who have achieved permanent weight loss have found that diets set them on a course for other problems unrelated to food. In fact, they may have gone completely out of control and found themselves in an emotional tailspin, even using more dieting as a means of control. When they could find no reliable friend, they turned to food as a companion. But they discovered the very thing they tried to use as a solution to their problems exacerbated them, bringing even more emotional and physical pain.

It’s a fact: diet fads last about a year. But weight management lasts a lifetime. Diets come and go. But successful people don’t. Clinical tests demonstrate that people who lose weight permanently are victorious because they refuse to rely on external techniques and gimmicks for their personal growth.

If you are ready to shake the diet fads and achieve sustainable, long-term weight balance, we can help. Our team at The Center • A Place of HOPE can help you or a loved one address the internal issues that might be manifesting themselves in weight gain. If you believe you or someone you love is in need of recovery support, fill out this form or call 1-888-747-5592 to speak confidentially with a specialist today.