The solution to excess weight seems very simple – don’t take in more energy than you expend over long periods of time or, if you have weight to lose, ‘eat less, move more’.

A 2016 study reported 48% of Brits had tried to lose weight in the previous year and this figure rose to 57% among women. With so many of us trying to shrink our waistlines, how is it that, according to NHS figures, 62% of people living in England are currently classified as overweight or obese.

If nearly half of us are trying some form of dieting every year, why are we failing in our goals for health? Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that we actually gain weight once we get on that cycle of dieting. To be clear, I’m not suggesting it’s the diet itself that causes weight gain but rather the diet mentality that is working against us.

Eating is the most important thing we do for survival after breathing. It is crucial that we are driven to seek out food. We have many physiological and psychological triggers which are driving us to eat and a diet mentality can confuse and stress these systems.

Just the mere thought of future deprivation can activate food-seeking behaviours. When you tell yourself you are starting that diet on Monday, your brain now tells you to eat, eat, eat now! Before the food runs out. They call this Last Supper eating, that final binge or overindulgence you are driven to have because you truly believe that you won’t be able to eat like this for a while.

The morning after an indulgence, your insulin sensitivity is reduced because of the overproduction of insulin required to deal with last night’s excess. Insulin has a very satiating effect but when your sensitivity is reduced, this satiating effect is muted, driving you to eat more and the diet is blown before 3pm. A new start time for the next diet is set and the Last Supper eating begins again and, before you know it, weeks have passed, you never did quite get into the flow of your eating plans, and you’ve eaten more than you would have if you hadn’t decided to diet to begin with.

We are more educated about food and nutrition than we have ever been, yet so many of us fell so out of control when it comes to our diet and health. With all the information available, losing weight should be a fairly straightforward process but our thoughts, emotions, physiology and modern lifestyles throw up obstacles, which creates conflict and confusion.

This is one of the reasons why many people turn to talking therapies. In order to change our relationship with food and our bodies, we need to change the way we think and feel about food and our bodies.

I believe in empowering my clients with a combination of therapy; to help them understand their processes, and psycho-education; to promote knowledge, understanding and self-compassion.

Sources:

https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/statistics-and-causes-of-the-obesity-epidemic-in-the-UK.aspx

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