Get off the Diet Hamster Wheel - Why Diets Always Fail!

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January 12, 2021 - Episode #51 - Get off the Diet Hamster Wheel - Why Diets Always Fail!
95% of diets fail.  95%! Wondering why there is such a high failure rate?  Are you ready to ditch the diet and get off that diet hamster wheel? That’s what we are chatting today on Healthy Harmony.
 
As I was prepping for this podcast,  I felt myself thinking.  Why bother?  What purpose does this serve?  The world has lost its mind!  But I was brought back to one thing.  This is how I can help!  This is how I can love and serve by bringing simple health information and encourage you to take control of your health.  Your complete health…body, mind and soul.  And if there is any time to protect your health, it’s now!  Even though the world is spinning out of control, there are people in your life who depend on you.  They need you, a healthy you.  This is why self-care is so crucial.  It’s not really so much about self as it is about others.  When yourSELF is well, you can love well, care well and serve well.  

Today, we are talking diets.  Why?  Because it’s January and a vast majority of people vow to get healthier and start looking at diets as THE ANSWER.  Now, I am going to disclose my bias…I’m anti-diet!  An Anti-diet dietitian.  And today I'm sharing with you the top 4 reasons that diets don't work!

Can you imagine having someone to assess your body, mind and soul health and help you develop simple strategies to transform your health.  Someone with the education and training and experience that doesn’t talk down to you or make you feel guilty but someone who empowers you and helps you feel like, I can do this!

Can you imagine that?  You don’t have to imagine it any more.  This is what I do.  I help women just like you! Consider booking a one-hour Wellness Warrior session.  www.inspirehealthyharmony.com/coaching
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Here is the link to the Eating Disorders podcast that I referred to: https://www.inspirehealthyharmony.com/eating-disorders.html#/

Read Full Transcript below
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​Where else to listen:  (note: Google is only available on android devices)

FULL TRANSCRIPT

January 12, 2021 - Episode #51 - Get off the Diet Hamster Wheel - Why Diets Always Fail!

95% of diets fail. 95%. Wondering why there's such a high failure rate? Are you ready to ditch the diet and get off that diet hamster wheel? Hey, that's what we're talking about today on Healthy Harmony.
Hey there. Welcome to the Healthy Harmony podcast. I'm Jennifer Pickett, your host, your health coach, your friend. If you're ready to tap into the healthiest version of you; so you can live life with confidence and intentional harmony. Then my friend you're in the right place. As a Dietitian turned Functional Medicine Health Coach, I’m here to walk beside you and show you how to take control of your complete health.. body, mind and soul.

When I was prepping for this podcast. I just kept finding myself thinking why bother? I mean, what purpose does this serve? Looking at everything that happened last week, you feel like the world has lost its mind. We're now asking about canceling our subscription to 2021 because Hey, this is not working! But I was brought back to one thing. This is how I can help. This is how I can love and serve by bringing simple health information and encourage you to take control of your health, your complete health.. body, mind, and soul. And if there is any time to protect your health it's right now. So even though the world is spinning out of control, there are people in your life who depend on you. They need you, they need a healthy you. This is why self care is so crucial. It's not really so much about self as it is about others, because when your self is well, you can love, well, you can care well, and you can serve.

Well, you say this is not a fad to me, this podcast, my coaching business, I've been helping others transform their health for 24 years now, both professionally, but also in the volunteer setting. I love to empower and encourage. And I believe that simple is what works. I saw this need for simple, easy to follow encouraging health tips in a world full of confusing and conflicting information. And I sought to fill that need. So that is what this is. And this is how I can help. If this podcast is beneficial to you, if it encourages you, will you share it with a friend? Subscribe, write a review. Have a topic you want to make sure that I cover? Hey, send it my way. Today. We're talking diets. Why now?  Because it's January and a vast majority of people vow to get healthier and start looking at diets as the answer.

Now I'm going to go ahead and disclose my bias from the beginning in case you didn't pick up on it. I’m anti diet. So that means I'm an anti diet Dietitian! But I've seen over the years, how they just don't work.
And I'm sharing that with you today. Why diets fail? So going way back to my days of working as a Dietitian in a hospital setting, that's what I did all day long. I taught diets and I saw the impact that it had. When I would tell a patient, they couldn't have something. I remember teaching the cardiovascular diet one day. I told this patient that he could no longer have fried chicken. Let me tell you the look on his face and the look on his family's face. That restriction from one of his favorite foods I knew good and well, he was going to stop by Church's fried chicken, as soon as he pulled out of that hospital parking lot.
It's just that mentality of, forbidden. I can't have that. And you know what it makes you crave it even more.
 A diet has a start date and an end date. What happens after the end date? You know, we have this diet mentality, I'm going to start on this diet. And then when I get off of this diet, this will happen. Or I can have this food when I'm no longer on this diet. You know, I also include the Monday mentality in this. I will start on Monday. I'm going to get serious on Monday. So this is January. Everybody has said and waited. I'm going to get serious about my health in January. I'm going to start at this point and it has such a negative feel to it. It doesn't work this whole diet mentality, the Monday mentality, you know, I have felt this way for quite some time being a Dietitian.

And seeing the reaction that people have just to that word. So I will tell you that the word diet is so very negative. Even if I would be at a party and somebody would say, Hey, what do you do for a living? And I would say, I'm a, I'm a dietitian there. People would back away or there, they would start like saying something like, I don't want to get put on a diet. Are you saying I need to be on a diet? And I'm like, no, no, that's not what I'm telling you. I was just telling you what I did versus if I told people that I'm a health coach it's a little bit more positive. So people are like, Oh, I need that. So it's funny. I've learned the difference in, in those words. And the main difference here, you know, Dietitian uses that word diet.

So I say that because literally the word diet has such a negative feel. And I want to really showcase to you over these podcasts that our mind and our body are connected. So if you've got this really negative, negative mentality towards food, and if you think of this diet being very, very restrictive, you're just shooting yourself in the foot. You're going to fail. And that's exactly what we're talking about today. I'm going to give you four reasons why diets fail.

Number one, it's restrictive. That whole mentality of eat this, don't eat that. Or you can never have that again. It creates cravings. And then you literally crave it because it's forbidden. Oh, I can't have that. I can never have chocolate chip cookies again. My goodness. Like it doesn't, that's so unrealistic and you literally crave it because you just told yourself, I can't have that.

Or maybe the Dietitian you're working with, or the health coach said you can't have that, that restrictive mindset is, is so very detrimental because you're like, Oh, I really, really want it now just because you told me I can't have it. It's that, that rebellious spirit in us. And what happens is that when we restrict for a period of time, that typically leads to overindulging and binge eating because you've gone without, and now you really, really want it. And then it's like no holds barred. So this restriction leading to binge eating, that is a very disordered relationship to food. It's disordered eating. Now, if you want to hear more about eating disorders and, and that's a whole other topic, I will link that podcast here because I, I spoke with a counselor in her specialty is eating disorders. So I will link that here because that's a whole other conversation, but I want you to see and make and connect the dots here. You know, when we're focused on deprivation, it creates a very restrictive, controlling relationship with food. And I want to point out when you restrict certain whole foods, it can also mean that you're missing out on some key nutrients that your body desperately needs.

Number two, diets fails to teach you how to eat. You have to learn how to eat for your life, for your wellbeing. And mamas, are you listening to me? You need to learn how to eat, so you can teach your kids how to eat and lead by example. And this is where it gets really tough, but this whole diet mentality mama's on a diet is very, very negative. You know how I know this because I've got clients who grow up with moms like that. And it was so detrimental for years and years to come. So you have to learn how to eat, what foods are good for you.

And if we look at the purpose of food, food is fuel. It gives you the energy that you need. So your body can keep running. Food is also information. It tells your body what to do. We also know food is medicine. It can heal your body. It is that beneficial and food is connection. It is that which binds us. We love to connect over food. So you need to know how to eat based on your life, your health, also your medical history, your family, medical history, your hormone status, your specific disease states that you might be dealing with. You need to learn how to eat. Now, when I say this, I'm talking about the basics. I don't mean you need to know the exact nutrient composition of every food. My word like that's crazy. You need to know the basics. You need to understand the importance of real whole foods. You need to know how to eat. You need to get some basic nutrition knowledge so that you can apply that to your everyday life. Here's what's most important. We're still in the middle of this massive pandemic. Do you know how to eat, to boost your immune system? What foods boost your immune system? And by the way, what foods really hinder or limit or decrease your own natural immunity? This is so very important.

Number three…diets dismiss other factors. Let me tell you, this is not just about food. There are other things that affect your food intake sleep. For instance, you've heard me say this before several times before, if you don't sleep good at night, guess what happens? You're hungrier the next day, because your hunger hormone ghrelin is increased, and guess what? You crave sugar. So don't sleep the next day. You're hungry and you're craving sugar. That's a disaster. Stress, stress increases cortisol. The stress hormone that has a whole disastrous cycle of effects. And you are turning to food for comfort, emotional health. Did you know, 75% of emotional eating is caused. I'm sorry. 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. And we'll say that one more time. Cause it's a good stat. 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. A quick story about my client Raquel. She had a a session with her doctor. Now, her doctor knew we had been working together. And when she went in, apparently this doctor was not pleased that we weren't moving fast enough that I wasn't being restrictive enough. And so the doctor just kind of gave her this lecture and made her feel very bad about herself. So guess what she did, as soon as she left the doctor's office, she went through the drive-through at her favorite burger joint. Yeah. Cause she was upset. She didn't feel empowered and encouraged like, Hey, I'm on the right track. I'm am I at least moving in the right direction? I can do this. She felt discouraged and defeated and overwhelmed. And so she went back to those emotional eating habits and she turned to food for comfort. So what that doctor did was more detrimental than she could have ever possibly realized it. Just something that made me so very upset. So it also in this category, as you know, we talk about diets, dismiss other factors. I want you to see too. There are other things that have a big influence here and it's the course of a whole other podcast, but poor gut health, poor gut health, meaning an overgrowth of the bad organisms like fungus and yeast and bad bacteria and not having enough of the good bacteria is a disaster.  A overgrowth of yeast makes you crave sugar because yeast feeds off of sugar. So a diet dismisses all of these other factors. Okay? I mean, because we're looking at it too simplistic.

Number four…the last reason why diets fail it doesn't look at the big picture. We are these beautiful complex beings created by an almighty guide. No detail was overlooked in the creation of you. You're not just a body. You are a body with a heart and a mind and a soul. And as we seek to get healthy, we want to take into account the big picture we want to take into account physical health, mental, emotional health, and spiritual health. So getting healthy is not just a matter of following the right diet. It's not just a matter of calories in and calories out. It's not just diet and exercise. You have to look at the big picture.

So let me recap those real quick four reasons why diets fail. Number one, too, restrictive. Number two, it fails to look at how to eat it. It fails to look at teaching you how to eat. Number three, it dismisses other factors. And number four, it doesn't look at the big picture.

I hope you're starting to get it. Diets are just a disaster. Yet, we keep coming back for more and we find ourselves on the diet hamster wheel, going round and round and round trying this diet, losing weight, going back to how you ate before then you regain the weight and add to it. Like you gain even more than you lost. Then you feel like you have failed again. The guilt and the shame is set in. You're ready to throw in the towel and you're asking yourself, what's the use. I'll never be able to conquer this. I want to empower you today. Do something different. You know, you know, diets don't work. You've tried it before and you're tired. You are so tired of losing weight only to regain it. So ditch the diets, get off that diet hamster wheel. It's exhausting. And you know what? It's not, you that's failed. It's the stupid diet. It doesn't work. It's time for you to do something different because I'm going to remind you, there are people that need you, that you're depending on you and they need a healthy you, and you know what it's worth it. Can you imagine having somebody to assess your body, mind and soul health and helping you develop simple strategies to transform your health, someone with the education and the training and the experience that doesn't talk down to you or make you feel guilty or ashamed, but someone who truly empowers you and helps you feel like I can do this. Can you imagine that my friend? You don't have to imagine it any more. As a Dietitian turned Functional Medicine Health Coach. This is what I do. So if you're out there and you're looking in, you're searching and you're confused and you're overwhelmed.

I want to encourage you. Will you take a look and consider booking a session with me? See if we're a good fit to work together. This is what health coaching for your body and your mind and your soul looks like. And from the time I set up my coaching practice over two and a half years ago, I've always seen my clients virtually over zoom. Okay? I had no idea how vital that would be no clue whatsoever, man. I'm so glad I set it up that way, but that enables us to get together no matter where our location is.

So if you're considering working with somebody, I just want you to think about it. If you think that having a personalized health strategy developed just for you would be so very helpful and beneficial. Consider that one hour wellness warrior session. If you have questions, you want more information, check out, inspirehealthyharmony.com. Click on that coaching tab. There's plenty of information there. You can always reach out to me, ask me the tough questions. I'm an open book. I want you to get the help and the support you need. Well, that wraps up today's show my friends. So until next week, ditch those diets and get off that diet hamster wheel. Focus on some real foods. I want you to feel good. I want you to be healthy. So until we meet again next week, y'all take care.

​Bye ya’ll