Dieting More Of A Problem Than A Solution

Many dieters are like drug addicts - their next go is definitely going to be their last but somehow it never is.

Increasing amounts of research indicate that dieting is more often a contributor to long-term eating and weight issues than it is a passport to lasting and relaxed weight control.

Whilst repeated dieting does not automatically lead on to the very serious eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia, constant unhappiness with eating and self-image can certainly be harmful to self-esteem and, indeed, physical and mental health.

Yale University's Prof. Kelly Brownell coined the notion of Yo-Yo Dieting 20 years ago. The research was a major breakthrough into realizing the limitations of interfering too much with a natural relationship with food and eating.

Yo-Yo Dieting is the widely understood notion of periods of crash weight reduction being followed by periods of weight regain once the artificial eating regime is relaxed. Subsequent studies have indicated that major health risks, particularly of heart disease, are associated with these dieting cycles.

There are cataloged examples of dieters who have, across multiple diet cycles, lost in total more than their entire average bodyweight .

Now, new research by a weight-control charity suggests that many more people than previously recognized are living their lives dominated by anxieties over eating and dieting.

The research being conducted by the charity's founder through the UK's Manchester Metropolitan University is shedding light on the millions of dieters worldwide who suffer long-term distress but do not undergo any dramatic swings in weight.

Yo-Yo Dieting is being redefined as Swinger Dieting to account better for the fact that whilst many dieters do regain their original weight - and more besides - it is clear that some do not.

The UK's BBC recently investigated the subject in its Real Story programme when it contacted 70 former "champion slimmers" of various commercial weight loss organizations. It discovered that the majority of these individuals had regained at least a considerable proportion of the weight originally lost.

Interviews identified that the stumbling block frequently came when the period of restricted and artificial food intake came to an end. For those dieters who had failed to undergo a mind shift away from their former food habits, relapse was frequently swift and utterly crushing to self-esteem.

Weight loss author and entrepreneur Rosemary Conley commented, "There has to be a change of lifestyle along with the loss of weight."

The Weight Foundation is seeking to analyze thoroughly the various categories of dieters so that sufferers of dieting frustration can more clearly understand their underlying habits and declare psychological war on the eating behavior which has been keeping them overweight.

Its chief findings are that there are numerous dieters, beyond the traditionally recognized Yo-Yo'ers, all of them also persistent dieters and who have until now been largely overlooked. The first category is Flatliner dieters, referring to people who are constantly alternating between indulgence and the self-punishment of food restriction. The second is Lifer dieters, who never really come off a diet at all and hence never enjoy a relaxed relationship with food.

Many psychologists are seeking the key to unlocking persistent dieting in what food and self-image means to an individual. The common thread is that trouble begins when food stands for anything more than everyday fuel, normal sociability and occasional celebration.

Sociologists are increasingly examining the pressures on people, particularly women, to become involved in dieting whether they have a significant weight issue or not.

For many long-term dieters food remains a friend, a comforter, or an easy and non-complaining partner in a life with difficult relationships. Modern women are bombarded with such a constant and heavy stream of dieting messages that it can easily become part of a necessary identify to be "in the dieting game".

Once these kinds of associations are fixed habits, all the dieting regimes in the world are unlikely to offer a long-term solution to persistent overweight and persistent dieting misery.

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