Has a doctor told you that you need to lose weight for your health? Most of us have heard this before. It is important to understand Doctors do not have adequate training and knowledge on nutrition like a Registered Dietitian does. When we are told we need to lose weight, we automatically start looking online for answers which is where the heart of diet culture lays. Did you know, 95% of diets fail and 2/3 of dieters will actually gain back more weight than they lose. Not one study on fad-diets has proven sustained weight loss over 2 years. So, why do people rave about being on a diet?
Why it’s so appealing to be on a fad-diet is because first off, social media glorifies them but secondly, they do “work.” I’m using quotes around “work” because they do work in the short-term setting but are not sustainable for life. We often see our own friend, co-worker, or family member do a fad-diet and lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks and they may look good but we don’t know what they truly did to really lose that weight and that brings up the question: was that weight loss healthy? Who knows…
Social media offers the perfect platform for people to show off their fad-diet results which brings up the Comparison Trap. Going back to the person who lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks, what you see is what their body looks like and their highlight reel on social media. You then compare yourself and say “I want to look like them.” What you don’t see is what they actually ate, if they edited their post, if they were sick, their mental health, physical health, or social health. Their individual behavior like physical and mental behavior has a lot of influence with health and weight.
We cannot treat weight as a behavior itself. To genuinely improve your health, we must look at our behaviors. The main behaviors we think of are:
- Physical activity
- Sleep patterns
- Diet patterns
- Stress levels
All of these behaviors are ones we can focus on without changing the size of your body. Now, this doesn’t mean that your weight will stay the same. You could lose weight, you could stay the same, or you could gain weight if you were restricting yourself for a very long time. The behaviors I mentioned will affect your weight but we can’t forget about our genetics too.
Genetics & biology includes:
- Body structure
- Age
- Height
- Weight
- Waist-hip ratio
Our weight is highly tied to our genetics. Let’s talk about the Setpoint Theory for a second. Setpoint is a theory that we have a 10-20 lb range that our bodies feel most comfortable at. We don’t get to determine that range, our bodies determine the range. Our bodies will naturally fluctuate throughout the day based on what we put into them.
Remember- Weight is just a data point, not a behavior. There are behaviors that you can engage in like hydrating, moving your body, getting in good nutrients that will improve your health. You should engage in these behaviors because you want to and they make you and your body feel good, not because you have to. If you enjoyed reading this blog, I know you will also reap the benefits of reading my blog titled: “How to Build a Better Body Image”
