New Year, No Diets

Let’s be honest, when most of us think of the New Year, what are some of the first things that come to mind? If you said, “New Year’s Resolutions”, you are not alone. In fact, more than 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. Out of those 131 million that set resolutions, I would venture to say at least half set health-related ones. That is a lot of people, and I’d say most of us either know someone or are one of these individuals who plan to work on their physical health in the new year. Don’t get me wrong - resolutions related to diet, nutrition, and health are not inherently bad; it is the type of rigid, restrictive, and drastic resolutions many people set that can end up presenting a problem. For example, resolutions that include becoming more active, drinking more water, and eating more whole foods are great decisions. Setting strict calorie limits, implementing extreme weight-loss goals, or starting a diet that cuts out entire food groups on the other hand, is what can cause internal backlash.

So before signing up for yet another promising diet that has been designed by someone who doesn’t know you, your body type, or your current state of health, here are a few reasons to opt out of the diet trend this January.

1.     Diets don’t work. When someone restrict calories enough to drop below the body’s natural set point weight range, the body pushes back, and most of the time this will cause a regain in weight. Over time, repeatedly losing and regaining weight (aka “yo-yo dieting”) may leave a person in worse health than before. If the goal of the restrictive diet was to eat healthier food, there are better, more effective ways to do so further down in this post.

2.     Restriction can lead to bingeing. Restricting our intake of calories or food groups has been proven to increase the risk of binge eating. If someone is deprived from a significant number of calories or certain foods, they are more likely to overeat once the restriction has stopped. This restrict-binge cycle is a hard place to be in and it can lead us further away from our ultimate health goals.

3.     Weight does not equal health. As a dietitian, I know this is especially tough for those in larger bodies who want to change his or her body size, but it is crucial to remember that weight is not the only determinant of health. Just because someone is in a smaller body does not mean they are healthy and just because someone is in a larger body does not mean they are unhealthy. When an individual is hyper-focused on the number on the scale, more drastic diet and exercise measures are taken to make the number continue to decrease – which again often leads to bingeing or more weight gain.

What we can do instead of dieting?

If your desire in the new year is to create healthier eating habits or movement goals, that’s fantastic, but let’s do it in a realistic, attainable way! It will feel much better to set reasonable goals and be able to achieve them then throwing in the towel mid-January. Here are a few tips to follow when setting these resolutions.

1.     Make the goal about adding, not subtracting. Goals that tell you to “cut out this” or “you can’t have too much of this” leave us feeling deprived and are pretty hard to stick with. Instead, try making a resolution on adding things in like, “I want to eat more vegetables, I want to cook more dinners at home, or I want to move my body more”. We want to encourage abundance, not deprivation.

2.     Focus on wellness, not weight. Embrace new habits that are good for whole-body health regardless of whether they lead to a change in weight or not. This includes nutrition and movement, but it also includes sleep, stress-management, and hydration! Consider these habits about taking care of both your physical and mental health. Self-care, anyone? Check out May’s blog post on helpful ideas for self-care.

3.     Set realistic resolutions. Diet culture is very much centered around “black and white” and “all-or-nothing” thinking, but when is comes to resolutions or goals of any kind remember that small, measurable, realistic goals are met more often than drastic, hard-to-reach goals. Instead of saying “I’m never eating processed sugar again”, change it to “I will start eating fruit instead of my usual cookie three days a week for one month”. This way nothing is being cut out, more whole foods have been added, and there is a realistic measure to it. If you need help formulating a plan like this, seek assistance from a dietitian who can sit down with you and talk through your goals together.

Above all else, if you decide to do a New Year’s resolution remember your why behind it. Will this goal bring me closer or further from the person I want to become physically, mentally, emotionally, and/or relationally? If the answer is no to any of these, it may be time to reevaluate if that is truly something you want.

The new year is a time of renewal and fresh starts, so don’t let a dieting resolution steal that from you. Maybe your new year’s resolution could be the exact opposite: “New Year, No Diets!”   

Written by: Kaitlyn Tucker, MS, RDN, LDN, Registered Dietitian

 

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