The Anti Diet Plan

Have you failed your diet? Or has your diet failed you? It is time to stop dieting and learn the revolutionary way to care for your body and your self.

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Why I resolve NOT to diet in 2016

As we enter the start of 2016, millions of people will think not of the wonderful accomplishments of the past year, but of the improvements they hope to make in the year to come. Rather than gratitude and appreciation for all that we have, we see the New Year as a time to “start fresh” and chase fantasies of the life that we believe we should be living.

As in years past, one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions in 2016 is to lose weight. Weight Watchers and other diet companies capitalize on this phenomenon by unleashing powerful advertising campaigns to intensify our insecurities and convince us that the answer to all of our problems is weight loss, which of course we can all achieve if we only follow their simple plan (read my post about Oprah’s WW ad here). Weight loss is an immensely popular New Years resolution because we associate it with all kind of other things. Do you want improved health, happiness, a better job, better relationships, a better life? The answer of course is weight loss. I say that tongue-in-cheek because really of course dieting isn’t the answer to any of those things. So, in case you have made yet another New Year’s resolution to lose weight, here are a few reasons to go ahead and break it immediately-- if you haven’t already done so.

1.    Dieting will NOT make you happy

We watch the weight loss advertisements on television and we see images of happy joyous thin people enjoying all that life has to offer. The media convinces us that dieting leads to happiness. But when has dieting ever lead to happiness? Can you recall any experiences when you joyously counted points and euphorically abstained from tempting chocolate cake? I’ll let your own past experiences speak for themselves on this one. But research does show that, rather than leading to happiness, dieting has a negative impact on psychological wellbeing.

 2.    Dieting will NOT make you healthy

Eating delicious foods in ways that are mindfully attuned to your body and engaging in enjoyable forms of physical movement are fundamental to health. Our body has an internal compass that can guide us towards good health. Diets only serve to distract us from what our body is trying to tell us. When we are dieting, we ignore our body’s natural signals, trying to override our natural physiology, following instead the advice of some diet guru.

 3.    Dieting will NOT improve your self-confidence

Dieting is based on the assumption that we are not good enough as we currently are. Therefore, we need to deprive ourselves to atone for our sins of overindulgence. Dieting keeps us focused on our perceived flaws, somehow convincing us that self-criticism will serve as motivation for weight loss. This does not work. Harsh internal judgments take a toll on our self-esteem making us feel sad, inferior, hopeless, and all around lousy.

4.    Dieting will NOT lead to weight loss    

Research study after research study shows us that dieting is simply not an effective means of achieving meaningful long-term sustainable weight loss. In fact, the most consistent predictable outcome of dieting is weight gain. Most people will lose weight in the short term on a diet but will regain the weight—with interest—in the long term. This is because diets don’t work. Not because you aren’t doing the diet correctly.

So, for 2016, I’m resolving not to diet. I hope you’ll join me in resolving NOT to diet in 2016.  

Below is the No Dieting Pledge. If you want to take the pledge, please print, sign, and hang somewhere prominent (I suggest using the pledge to plaster over the "motivation" images currently hung on your refrigerator). To publically take the pledge, please write your name in the comment section of this post or tweet me @ConasonPsyD with #TheAntiDietPlan. 

In 2016, I resolve NOT to diet.  I will NOT spend my valuable time, money, and emotional resources to fund the over $60 billion weight loss industry that feeds off of my low self-worth. I will NO LONGER be convinced that I am a failure because my diet has failed me. I recognize that diets DO NOT work. The most predictable outcomes of dieting are weight gain, disordered eating, and emotional distress. I will NOT judge my self-worth by the number on a scale but by the quality of my person, the things that I do, and the way in which I live my life.

In 2016, I WILL strive to accept my body in its current shape and size. Because this is the body that I have right here, right now, and no amount of hating myself will change that fact. I pledge to support this body in its pursuit of health. I recognize that healthy bodies come in a diverse range of shapes and sizes. Health is NOT determined by weight, but by how we nourish our body through self-care, mindful eating, and movement. In 2016, I WILL strive to honor and care for this body that I was given to the best of my ability by listening, trusting, and respecting my body.

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“Inside every overweight woman is the woman she knows she can become” –Oprah Winfrey

This is what Oprah tells us in her new commercial for Weight Watchers. I find it enraging. Weight Watchers is a company premised on selling us the message that we are not good enough as we currently are, so I’m not sure why I found this advertisement surprising. Perhaps it is because the message was coming from the diet industry by way of Oprah. The following is a fact that I don’t usually share with people: I used to be an Oprah fan. Don’t judge me. For many years of my life, I rushed home by 4pm to sit in front of my television and watch my old friend give me advice about the benefits of journaling, how to heal my relationships, and share her favorite things with me. As a loyal viewer, I also watched alongside America as her weight fluctuated throughout the years. She would share her struggle with her audience; so many times coming on the show with an expert claiming that she had overcome her struggle once and for all. In 2010, when Oprah brought intuitive eating guru Geneen Roth on her show to proclaim that she had an ah-ha moment and discovered a compassionate non-dieting approach to cope with her eating issues, I believed her. I was wrong. Yes, the path to accepting our body is filled with peaks and valleys and most of us have had moments when we drink the diet industry kool-aid and believe that our bodies are the problem and dieting is the solution. This type of struggle is only natural. But to sell the kool-aid--to become a kool-aid spokesperson--this is simply unconscionable. 

Perhaps the Weight Watchers advertisement made me so angry because I saw in it, not just Oprah sharing the message that we are not good enough as we currently are, but because I saw in it every woman who has given up on herself. Every woman who has grappled with notions of self-acceptance but ultimately bought into the myth that thinness is the path to salvation. That our bodies are inherently flawed and we most coerce our body into submission to conform to the narrow ideals that define beauty in this day and age. That loving our body and caring for it with compassion should be passed over in favor of diet plans that erode our sense of self worth in exchange for unfulfilled promises of thinness and acceptance.

My message is this: Inside every overweight woman--inside every woman, regardless of her size-- is the woman who knows how to love and care for herself right now. Inside every woman is the woman who knows that weight loss will make her thinner but not happier, healthier, or better in any way. Inside every woman is a woman who has the power to break free from the binds of dieting and love herself right now.

What's inside your every overweight woman? Share your message at #everyoverweightwoman and #theantidietplan

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Check on my comments for this article on body hashtags and follow my blog for more on why beauty ideals are BS. 

Everyone does it these days, tag their photos on social media feeds to announce their aspirations when it comes to their appearance or fitness objectives (#BootyGoals, #ThighGap, #PerfectBody), or even their insecurities (#HateMyBody, #ThunderThighs, #FeelingFat).  But either way, the trend of  “body

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Step Away From the Scale

Bathroom scales are ubiquitous in US households. They are expected objects in the bathroom landscape. Many people don't think twice when they happen upon one. You may even have one in your bathroom at home. However, when we step onto the scale, this innocuous looking object becomes something far more sinister. In our culture where thinner is always better, the scale doesn't just tell us what we weigh. It has become a measure of our self-worth. An oracle determining whether we will have a good day or a bad day. The judge of whether we are good or bad. 

The effects of stepping on the scale may be particularly detrimental for teens and young adults who are just developing their sense of self and are particularly vulnerable to the development of eating disorders. Most teens and young adults have access to a scale, if not in their own home then in the homes of friends, at the mall, or even in their school locker room. Many chose to monitor their weight by regularly stepping on the scale; some may even be encouraged to do so by parents or their pediatrician. In the midst of the “obesity epidemic,” self-weighing is often seen as an innocuous and effective means of weight control. However, new research highlights the risky consequences of self-weighing during the critical period of transition from adolescence to young adulthood.

In a study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Pacanowski et al (2015) analyzed data from the Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults (Project EAT), which is a longitudinal study of female and male adolescents and young adults who were assessed at 3 time points beginning in middle or high school and followed for 10 years. The analysis included 1,902 participants (males=819, females=1,083). The majority (over 2/3) of the sample would be classified as “normal” weight. Participants were asked to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statement “I weigh myself often.” The researchers also gathered data on weight, body mass index, weight disparity (the difference between self reported ideal weight and current weight), body satisfaction, weight concern, depression, and self-esteem.

Results of this study indicate that for both males and females, there was no association between self-weighing and either weight or BMI. This calls into question the common belief that self-weighing leads to weight loss or maintaining a lower weight; if that was true then the participants who regularly weighed themselves would weigh less than those who did not. What the researchers did find was that, for both males and females, self-weighing was associated with greater concern about their weight. Females who weighed themselves regularly also experienced more dissatisfaction with their bodies, more depressive symptoms, and lower self-esteem.

Based on these results, it seems like stepping on the scale doesn’t make people lose weight but it may make you feel bad about your body (increased weight concern and body image dissatisfaction), feel bad about yourself (lower self-esteem), and feel depressed. Meaning that the scale comes with lots of risk and no clear benefit.

The fact is, we don’t need a scale to tell us how our body is doing. If we are attuned with our body, we will generally know if we have gained or lost weight. It is also important not to have our weight define who we are. Weight and body mass index (BMI) are pretty lousy indicators of health and even worse indicators of moral character.

Reference: Pacanowski CR, Loth KA, Hannan PJ, Linde JA, Neumark-Sztainer DR. (2015). Self-Weighing Throughout Adolescence And Young Adulthood: Implications for Well-Being. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 47 (6), 506-515.

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The Anti-Diet Plan’s Top 5 Tips for Managing Your Eating This Holiday Season

1.    Don’t Deprive Yourself. Some people prepare for a big meal like Thanksgiving by counting calories or cutting out certain foods in the days leading up to the big event. There is a belief that if you are “good” now, it is okay to be “bad” later. This way of thinking is a ticket onto the merry-go-round of restriction and binge eating that is hard to get off. For example, overeating at a holiday party may be followed by a juice cleanse the following day which may be followed by out-of-control eating come dinnertime…and around and around we go. Avoid getting on this hellish ride by just saying no to dieting and deprivation. Listen to your body and eat what you want when you want it.  

2.    Take time to notice the flavors of your food. Gingerbread and eggnog and candy canes, oh my! During the holidays we are presented with a plethora of foods, many of which are unique to this time of year (although remember that you can eat holiday foods anytime of year! For more on this, read my post “Surviving Thanksgiving: Eat Stuffing Everyday”). When eating, take a moment, with each bite, to notice the flavor, texture, and sensations associated with the food. This can be an interesting experiment to try with new foods or foods that are not part of your usual routine. You may notice aspects of certain foods that you enjoy and this can enhance your eating experience. Alternatively, you may notice that there are some holiday foods you don't enjoy (even foods that you have mindlessly eaten every year) and this can help you make decisions about food that more closely match what your body wants.

3.    Recognize bodily sensations. The holidays bring along holiday parties and gatherings that revolve around food. Mindfulness can help guide you through these potentially difficult situations. Before selecting an item to eat, take a moment to survey your body; are you having any sensations of hunger? Any sensations of fullness? Is your body calling for any particular food? Slowing down the eating process by paying greater attention to your body can help you make attuned food choices.

4.    Acceptance. Be kind, compassionate, and accepting with yourself and your eating behaviors. This is especially important if you feel as though you are out of control with your eating or have gotten “off track.” Try to challenge your internal "critical voice" and consider what you may say to a friend or child who is having similar thoughts. Most of us would never say the things that we say to ourselves to our worst enemies, let alone someone we love! Try practicing loving kindness meditation and extend kind thoughts to other people in your life as well as yourself.

5.    Meditate. The holidays are busy! Engaging in mindfulness meditation practice throughout the day will help you remain in balance. It is ironic that when life gets busy, meditation often goes out the window. The time that we need meditation the most is the time when we feel as if we have no time to do it. Dedicating even 5 minutes to daily meditation can help you increase awareness of your bodily sensations, feelings, and thoughts which will aid your ability to eat mindfully and feel more in control of your eating during the holiday season and beyond.

(photo credit: moonstarsandpaper.blogspot.com)

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Do people replace food with sex?

This was the argument that Jared Fogel’s attorney made in court to defend his having sex with minors. Forensic psychiatrist John Bradford testified that Fogel’s rapid weight loss and restricted diet led to hyperactive sexual drives that resulted in his “mild pedophilia.” First of all, I never knew that one could have “mild pedophilia”--isn’t that like being a little bit pregnant? But I digress. 

The question at hand is: did the diet make him do it? 

While there is a part of me that relishes the idea that dieting could be equated to mental insanity in a court of law--and I do believe that dieting makes people pretty nuts--there is research that actually provides clues to answer this question. In fact, it is research conducted by me and my colleagues at The New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center in affiliation with Columbia University. I presented the preliminary results at the 2014 annual conference of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery/ Obesity Week. Our study followed people who underwent bariatric weight loss surgery (a surgery that drastically reduces the amount of food that a person can consume) to see if they started engaging in substitute compulsive behaviors to replace compulsive overeating. The results? People did not engage in compulsive sexual behavior following weight loss surgery. In fact, they did not really engage in that much sex at all either before or after surgery. Kind of puts the kibosh on Jared’s “the diet made me do it” defense.   

This isn’t to say that dieting isn’t extraordinarily destructive. It is. Dieting leads us to feel terrible about ourselves. We become preoccupied with food and our weight. It makes us feel like crap, both physically and emotionally. And it often triggers binge eating and other disordered eating behaviors. But is it a defense for criminal acts? I don’t think so. 

[endangeredbodiesnyc]

“If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.” —Gail Dines

Image found on Pinterest

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We are sold the lie that we aren't good enough. Stop buying it!

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Dad Bods and Mom Bods: Cute Pooch versus Bad Parent

Does anyone else notice the drastic differences between the media coverage of weight gain in dads vs moms? For example, compare two New York Times articles, one discussing weight gain in dads and the other discussing weight gain in moms. "Becoming a Dad? Expect to Gain 3 to 5 pounds, Study Suggests" (7/21/15) presented a research study in a matter of fact tone without any mention of the effect that paternal weight gain could have on their children or even the father's health. The article was even lighthearted at times, quoting the study's lead author saying that he too likes to munch on his kids' leftover pizza (one of the factors that the article implicated in the weight gain). In other words, weight gain in dads was normalized and the fathers were not accused of being bad parents due to their body size. The coverage of weight gain in moms is quite different. "Pregnant, Obese...and In Danger" (3/28/15) was an angry rant by an OBGYN fed up with caring for pregnant women who are "too heavy." This type of coverage is typical when it comes to Mom Bods. Emotional tirades in which moms are accused of endangering the wellbeing of their children are the norm. In essence, we are told that fat moms are bad moms. What do you think of this double standard? #HAES #health #dadbod #badmommy

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Hello World! Welcome to The Anti Diet Plan

Since 2012, I’ve been writing the Eating Mindfully blog for Psychology Today. I love this blog, but the entries are long and time consuming to write. There is so much to say and sometimes you just want to get it out there quickly. The Anti Diet Plan is a revolutionary way to end your abusive relationship with dieting and develop a peaceful and nourishing relationship with food and your body. My hope is that this blog will become a community for people fighting against the torments of the dieting industry. Are you ready to stop drinking the calorie-free kool-aid and start living the Anti-Diet Plan?