The misery of being on the weight loss misery-go-round.

Did you know that dieting, like living on a merry-go-round, is not ‘normal’? The success stories that the diet industry sells, focus on the small number who have managed to lose weight, when 97% of people – you, me and most ordinary people – will put the weight back on. Weight loss companies sell success based on the premise that diets work (they don’t).

  • Is your life a dieting merry-go-round?
  • Are you ever not on this diet ride?

We have made the dieting misery-go-round a ‘normal’ way to be and today the average age we begin our lifetime ride can be at age ten[i]. It is a ride many hop on, seeking to be attractive and accepted and it keeps us going round in circles of:

  • Losing weight and feeling good about ourselves ... followed by ...
  • Gaining weight and feeling horrible about ourselves ... followed by ...
  • Losing weight and feeling good about ourselves ... and around we go ...

Are we doomed to flab and belly fat if we don’t diet?

The misery-go-round says that to lose weight you have to control what you eat and this has taught us to doubt the messages our body sends about what is needed for our health and wellbeing.

What if we already know what to eat and how much, without needing to count calories or measure portions?

We can then get off the ride and come back to trusting ourselves by starting to be honest about what we have let rule us about diets, weight loss and the ideal body.

Life outside of the merry-go-round is about re-connecting to ourselves, and instead of focusing on losing weight, focus on letting go of all the things that ran us to gain it in the first place.

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What is the best diet for me?

Choosing what to eat is not about losing weight or following the latest diet, it is an individual process of self-discovery as your body tells you what food best suits you.

Reference:

  • [i]

    Moorhead, J., 2012. "Children start dieting as young as 10." theguardian.com. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/may/07/body-image-anxiety-primary-school-pupils

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ConnectionLosing weightWeight-lossBody image

  • By Adrienne Ryan

    I’ve always been interested in understanding the underlying cause and effect behind what we experience in life and for this the heart is the greatest teacher any student could have.

  • Photography: Clayton Lloyd