You’re probably asking yourself, Tash, have you got this right, there’s a time I shouldn’t be dieting? One hundred percent, regardless of your size, there are times when dieting is BAD for you; for your mental health, mindset, eating habits and the list goes on. That is NOT to say that if you are in an unhealthy weight range that you shouldn’t drop weight. All I am saying is, there are in fact signs from your body and mind telling you, you SHOULD NOT DIET. Notably, when dieting actually leads you to your downfall. To end your confusion, I will delve into more…
REASONS WHY PEOPLE SHOULD DIET
Beyond the obvious aesthetics (and this is all down to you, in how you would like to look), dieting is vital for you if you are currently sitting in an unhealthy weight bracket. Especially if health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks etc run in your family, then you should be particularly aware that you don’t want to be in a similar boat and at risk, or worse, pushing yourself further towards death’s door.
My Grandad died of a heart attack at the age of 61, my own father had 3 heart attacks at exactly the same age last year and survived (thankfully!) My mum and Uncle are pre-diabetic. Everyone on my Dad’s side is overweight, has high blood pressure and on tablets, have had kidney malfunctions etc etc. My Nan on my mum’s side has a type of motor neurone disease (spanning about 30 years) where all her muscles have died, so much so that she lays in a bed with a tube tied to her because she cannot move her muscles to eat, not to mention she has dementia. All she can do is blink. So, it’s safe to say that Anton and I are not born into a genetically kind family.
What it means is, I CHOOSE and WANT to be mindful of my health for the rest of my life. I don’t want to die of a heart attack, I don’t want to have diabetes, I don’t want to be on high blood pressure tablets and have the Nurse warn me that if I don’t lose wight, I’m more likely to have a heart attack like my dad and grandad before me. I want to be healthy and I want to live a long and happy life. Health and longevity should always be the main reason why people undergo a fat loss phase. Second to that, you get your dieters that want to look aesthetically pleasing and again, if that’s for you, as long as it’s done properly without heavy restriction and you maintain a good relationship with food, then do it. You want to look good and feel good in yourself and develop that confidence again, therefore, dieting has its benefits. However, there are times when dieting is not the best option for you, and I share all here. Why? Because I’ve been there. I’ve been in that position where I have had to stop dieting. Simply because it was affecting me mentally, and was heading me closer and closer in the direction of a Binge Eating relapse.
WHEN DIETING SHOULD BE A NO NO
When dieting starts bringing on the following symptoms, then its your best indication that you should stop dieting:
· When going on the scales starts determining your mood for the day, or in fact the whole week. When it causes you to feel guilt, make you cry, or make you self-loathing
· When it causes you to overeat or worse, have heavy binge sessions due to the restriction of calories
· When you become all too consumed in dieting: when it’s all you think about, talk about, dream about, when it becomes the only important thing in your life
· When your obsession with dieting causes eating disorders, disordered eating and binge eating etc
· When you realise you don’t feel normal anymore because you’ve never experienced a day without tracking
· When you are starving all the time
· When you become obsessed with calories so much that you avoid social situations
· When you overeat a little bit and you cry because you’ve gone over your calories and feel like a failure over and over again
· When you NEVER go out to eat because you’re worried about the calories
· When food is on your mind all the time
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO INSTEAD?
· Change your goal from fat loss to one of improving your mental health
· Take a diet break: focus on maintaining your weight
· Focus on a good structure of meals and healthy eating
· Allow yourself more calories-bump yourself up to maintenance calories to move away from this failure feeling
· Reduce weighing yourself to maybe 2-3 days of the week, so you’re not so fixated on these numbers. Have a break from it altogether if you need
· Intuitively eat and focus more on eating only when your hungry, NOT because you have to fulfil a macronutrient goal
· Practise going out to eat and eating to satiation, NOT until you feel full or really sick and bloated
· Keep your output the same just so that your weight maintains
· Ensure you enjoy your food and consume foods you love and enjoy.
· Bin the guilt
· Stop overthinking everything eg calories, etc Instead, go with the flow
· Avoid planning meals too much in advance and eat what you feel like eating (obviously within reason and as long as you have a good healthy eating structure)
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I NEED TO LOSE MORE WEIGHT?
Like I said, if you are someone not in a healthy weight bracket, then of course your long term goal is going to be fat loss. You will know when you are ready to diet again. Imagine you are a 5 ft 2 female and you weigh over 80 or 90kg, your fat loss phase realistically will probably span a couple of years. Remember, fat loss should be slow and steady. Therefore, aim to diet 6-8 weeks then take a 2-3 week diet break (on maintenance calories). Then go again.
Diet breaks of course depend on the person. They depend on your attitude and relationship with food, your diet history and your duration of dieting. You will know, your body will know if you can’t continue with dieting. When you feel a lot of the symptoms listed above for a couple of weeks, that is your sign that you need a diet break. Don’t view it as a waste of time. Remember, forcing yourself to diet longer than you physically and mentally can, can ultimately ruin the good relationship you currently have with food and in afct, have the opposite effect of dropping weight.
MY MOST RECENT EXPERIENCE OF A DIET BREAK
On reflection, the biggest faux pas I made this year was starting my photoshoot prep diet too early. It got to the point that after 9 weeks of dropping I was starting to overeat, starting to feel guilt, and want to binge. Immediately, I took myself out of the diet and bumped my calories to maintenance. Doing just this stopped me from wanting to binge and ruin my relationship with food. It was a mental thing for sure. Knowing I wasn’t restricted anymore, knowing I was allowing myself more calories meant I could focus on good quality food and maintaining a good relationship with food. Knowing the goal was not to drop weight was the biggest weight off my shoulders.
Want to diet the right way? DM me today on IG @natashakostalas
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