5 Reasons I Refuse to Diet
We live in a world where it is trendy to be on a diet, a world where, in order to qualify as a model, you have to wear something along the lines of size 6 or, even better, less.
I am twice the size of a supermodel, yet I refuse to go on any sort of diet.
Here’s why:
1) Diets don’t work for me.
I know, I know, you want to tell me I’m wrong, that I just need to find the right one. I would have told myself that a few months ago.
Here’s the thing, though. I have tried them all, some for years: Paleo, SCD, Gaps, Trim Healthy Mama, intermittent fasting, Mediterranean.
There have been times where I lost some weight, only to gain it back weeks or months later.
Guess what? It turns out I’m not the only one who has trouble with diets.
In this article, dietician Kara Lydon explains five reasons why diets don’t work for people, and in this video, intuitive eating counselor Maria Scrimenti explains the science behind why diets don’t work.
2) Diets require a lot of time and money
I remember the first diet I went on.
First, I sorted through my pantry and began to throw out all the foods I was no longer allowed to eat. Then, I compiled a shopping list with all the new foods I now needed and went shopping.
I recall feeling horrified at checkout. “This is important,” I told myself. “I’m taking care of my body; you can’t put a price on that.”
Still, the price bit. Hard.
Coconut oil is expensive. So are organic fruits and those special milks that aren’t really milk. Don’t even get me started on almond flour.
If you’re like me, you tell yourself, “You know what? Oat milk? I can make that at home.”
And that’s when you discover that dieting takes TIME. So. Much. Time. In the kitchen. Cooking, cooking.
3) Dieting requires absolute obedience.
You can’t really expect a diet to work unless you follow it, right? I mean, you can’t say you’re eating Paleo and then eat lots of bread.
Every diet has its own story, its own reason why it’s good.
Paleo? That’s how our ancestors ate.
Gaps? That’s how this child with autism was cured.
Trim Healthy Mama? That’s how all these women are thin. See? Literally thousands.
In order to do the diet, you need to buy into the why behind the diet. After all, you are going to have to eliminate some foods and add in others. You need to know why the heck you are doing that.
You can adhere religiously to the diet, until…
You travel overseas or
You run out of money or
You have to go live with your grandma and take care of her and she loves bread…
Once you go off diet, well, you either gain all the weight back or you just shame yourself until you start again.
You also live in fear. Because, you were dieting like this for all these reasons, and now you aren’t, so what’s going to happen to your health?
4) Dieting can turn you into a hermit
Going out with friends while following a diet is complicated. You’re either going to have to bring your own special food on the outing, or you’re going to have to eat nothing or almost nothing.
Cooking, pre-cooking, planning, shopping, wash, rinse, repeat.
These things keep you tethered to your kitchen.
They keep you too exhausted to go out and have fun.
5) I like my body.
Sure, I can’t wear size 6.
But I’m curvy.
I like being curvy. Curvy is sexy.
My body stood by me, sturdy-like, while my son fought through cancer, so that I could stand by him.
My body carried three babes to term.
My body’s pleasure centers please.
My body’s a fun canvas on which to hang comfy, fun clothes that suit me, clothes I don’t just like, but love.
My body loves to dance; feels the rhythm in its bones.
Call me crazy if you will, mock me if you choose. I can only hope that you will learn to love you as much as I love me.
