Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?
Mood Swings
Fertility issues
Insulin resistance
Poor sleep
Hair loss
Missing / Painful periods
Low energy
Lingering Infections
Have you ever considered that chronic dieting might actually stress your body? Realizing the harmful effects of chronic dieting has played a huge role in my healing journey. When I decided to let go of all the food porn in my head and allow myself to listen to my body and its dietary needs, I reduced a tremendous amount of stress and allowed healing to take place. I reversed insomnia, hormonal imbalances, and a bucket load of infections. My mood became more stable, and I started to get excited about life again.
What does chronic dieting look like?
Food restrictions lasting more than two years
Constant calorie counting
Switching from one diet trend, cleanse, or restriction to another
Unhealthy body self-image
Weight loss failure
Weight loss followed by instant regain
It is not easy to let go of trends that mainstream doctors, the alternative health community, and the whole Entertainment Industry reinforce (from movie stars to endless skinny models). Here are a few things we must be aware of when chronic dieting:
When you put your body through restrictive diets/patterns of eating, when you over-exercise, when you have no stress management...
Your body goes into fight or flight mode.
The science:
Your brain senses a threat to survival and starts to communicate to your hormone glands. Your adrenals pump out cortisol and/or adrenaline because you and your body are stressed.
Right now, more and more women are relying on these stress hormones on a day-to-day basis because they under-eat, push themselves too hard and have poor self-talk.
When your body is stuck in fight or flight mode it will:
Conserve fat (fuel for later) or stay underweight
Lose energy-expensive non-necessities such as hair and muscle
Fight NOT to reproduce (missed ovulations, PMS, or skipped periods)
These outcomes are often the opposite of what you are trying to achieve by dieting in the first place, and don’t contribute to meaningful weight loss, despite long term restrictive calorie intake.
Our cells need lots of energy (glucose) when under stress. If the body can't get this glucose from your nutrition, it will make it by breaking itself down. Therefore it's incredibly important that you fuel yourself effectively, so your body doesn't have to resort to fight or flight.
There are more negative impacts of chronic dieting that cause your body a stress response.
Chronic dieting may physically affect a person by causing high blood pressure, increased cholesterol levels, an imbalance in body water and fluid, decreased insulin resistance, binge eating, reduced production of leptin, slow metabolism (biochemical processes that convert food into energy), and diseases of the gallbladder and heart.
Chronic dieting may lead to a lack of specific nutrients such as carbohydrates which simultaneously leads to nutritional deficiencies. Continuously denying oneself their favorite food items can also psychologically affect a person, causing depression and mental stress. This may often lead to intense cravings for high-calorie foods and anxiety and frustration when one fails to meet one’s targeted weight.
Chronic dieters may often experience mood swings. They snap at people who offer them food, stay away from parties, or attend parties and stay hangry (hungry+angry) because they are on diet and can’t stand people eating their favorite food items. They often feel depressed thinking they lack something (it’s probably just food they need!) and generally feel worthless and dull when they don’t reach their desired weight goal. Studies have shown that when a person is hungry, levels of the brain chemical serotonin (a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite, and sleep) fluctuate . That could be one reason why we are angry when we are hungry. With such a long list of ill effects, chronic dieting resembles an eating disorder.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce your stress response. Once these steps are taken, your body will start to relax, your metabolism will be activated, and your body will actually feel safe enough to let go of calories all on its own. But most importantly, a lot of the negative health symptoms mentioned above will disappear when you stop chronic dieting.
Here’s what you can do:
Avoid long periods without eating. I recommend eating meals/snacks that contain protein, carbs, and fat every 3-4 hours, to maintain stable glucose levels. Avoid giving into snacking every 10-20 minutes.
Get plenty of salt (not the table variety!). Sea salt tends to have more bioavailable nutrients compared to Himalayan or table salt.
Add extra potassium throughout the day. Coconut water is great, as is the classic bananas, oranges, dates, and mangos. Potassium regulates fluid balance and nervous system functionality.
Don't skimp on the vitamin C! Fruit, jalapeños, fermented veggies, red pepper, Camu Camu, and acerola cherry. This helps support your adrenals which produce hormones and modulate your cortisol levels.
All of these practices will help bring you back to balance and rejuvenate your metabolism.
Want to learn more about rejuvenating your metabolism through nutrition? Check out my Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Detox Package which covers everything you need to get you on the right track to quit dieting and feel at home and nourished within your body.
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Thank you for sharing this valuable information.