A question that I have been getting a lot recently is, “Why Health at Every Size (HAES)? Why Intuitive Eating? And what about weight loss? The picture posted below makes me cringe everytime I read it but I think it is REALLY important that I share this with you. I want you to understand why we have switched from weight loss to Intuitive Eating & HAES.
As dietitians we are taught to put people on calorie restrictive diets. We are taught to “fix” people’s problems and serve them with whatever they need.
So when someone says: “I want to lose weight”
We used to say: “How can I help”
Instead, now we say: “Can you tell me more about your relationship with food, your diet history, and your body?”
We know dieting doesn’t work. ⅔ of dieters will gain back more weight than they originally lose. We also know that a smaller body doesn’t equal a “healthier” body. Health is defined by so much more than a number on a scale. Weight is just a data point, not a behavior. Helping someone “lose weight” is not automatically helping them improve their health. In fact, it can be very harmful depending on how it is done.
We know that yo-yo dieting increases the risk of certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Dieting builds distrust with our body. It can lead to obsessively tracking calories and macros which causes stress and an unhealthy relationship with food & body.
Most people that want to lose weight, want to be in a smaller body because they want the privilege that is coupled with a smaller body. We live in a fatphobic world and so many people are afraid to own who they truly are and work on bettering their health regardless of the size of their body.
We are not anti-people losing weight. If someone works with us and loses weight in the process then so be it, that is a symptom of the behavior change but it is not our #1 focus. If someone is working with us and is over their set point range (click here to read our blog on setpoint theory) it is more likely that they will lose weight. But it is never the focus.
Most health professionals who continue to preach calorie-restrictive diets are thin, white, able-bodied humans telling others to “do their program” and you will lose weight, keep it off, and look like me (cringe – used to also be my thought process). Most of these professionals have not recognized their privilege and think that they “earned” their body. Nope, we are born into our body, genetics, physical environment, social environment, etc.
I understand how uncomfortable this can be to hear if you are one of the people that are still preaching weight loss & calorie restriction OR if you are a human trying desperately to change the size of your body. I USED TO BE BOTH OF THOSE PEOPLE! I get it. I understand where you are coming from, but you are still welcome to follow along with our content and there is another way.
What if you leaned into this curiosity and learned more? What if you became curious about Intuitive Eating and body diversity? What if you read more of the research? What if you stopped focusing on changing the size of people’s bodies (or your own body) and started to uncover why your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors are the way that they are?
Remove the judgement, guilt, and shame and replace that with curiosity.
What are your thoughts after reading this blog? Let us know, leave a comment or shoot us an email. If you are looking to start your journey towards food freedom, we’d love to chat! Click here to schedule a FREE 15 minute discovery call with our team to discuss the best form of support for you.
