There is a healthier (and happier) option to weight loss dieting.

Did you know that roughly 10% of us are on a weight loss diet at any given time, with the average person trying up to 126 fad diets over their lifetime? Despite these efforts, research consistently shows that weight loss diets fail to deliver long-term results for weight or health improvement.

Let’s explore why weight loss diets often don’t work long-term and what we can do instead.

The Flaws of "Calories In, Calories Out"

Weight loss diets typically rely on creating a calorie deficit—eating fewer calories than we burn. This concept, rooted in the outdated “calories in, calories out” theory, assumes weight loss is a simple equation.

But our bodies are not machines. Energy expenditure is influenced by complex, adaptive mechanisms designed to keep us alive.

How Your Body Responds to Dieting

When calorie intake decreases, your body reacts as if there’s a famine, triggering survival mechanisms:

• Lowered Metabolic Rate: Your body burns fewer calories at rest to conserve energy.
• Increased Hunger Hormones: Hormonal changes make you feel hungrier and more focused on food.
• Fat Storage: The body becomes more efficient at storing fat, preparing for future "famines."

This adaptive response often leads to plateaus or even weight regain, despite following a low-calorie diet.

Factors Affecting Calorie Balance

The calories we burn and absorb are impacted by:

Calories Burned:

• Food Intake: Eating less reduces calories burned.
• On-and-Off Dieting: Repeated dieting lowers metabolic rate over time.
• Hormones: Fluctuations, especially in menstruating individuals, alter calorie needs.
• Physical Activity: Movement increases energy expenditure.
• Illness: Fighting infections or illness uses more energy.
• Temperature Regulation: Keeping warm requires energy.

Calories Absorbed or Stored:

• Genetics: Influence metabolism and calorie absorption.
• Gut Microbiome: Affects how much energy is extracted from food.
• Stress: Alters digestion and promotes fat storage.
• Sleep & Mood: Impact appetite and digestion.
• Alcohol Consumption: Encourages fat storage as the body prioritizes burning alcohol.

Hormonal Changes That Impact Weight Balance

Dieting disrupts key hormones, driving hunger and fat storage:

• Cortisol: Stress from dieting raises cortisol, promoting fat storage and impairing digestion.
• Leptin: Reduced body fat lowers leptin levels, increasing hunger and decreasing calorie burn.
• Ghrelin: Dieting elevates this "hunger hormone," making you feel ravenous.

Psychological and Neurological Factors

Brain’s Role in Eating

The hypothalamus manages hunger and energy balance. Dieting alters brain activity, making high-calorie foods more appealing and increasing their reward value.

Dieting and Emotional Eating

Restrictive dieting often leads to:

• Deprivation Eating: Craving off-limits foods and eating them in higher amounts.
• The "Last Supper" Effect: Overeating forbidden foods before starting a diet.
• Guilt & Shame: These emotions drive cycles of binge eating and emotional eating.

Beliefs About Food Matter

Research shows that your beliefs about food can influence hunger and metabolism.

• Milkshake Study: Participants who thought they drank a high-calorie milkshake felt fuller and had lower ghrelin levels compared to those who believed the same milkshake was low-calorie—even though both drinks were identical.
• Sugar Perception Study: People with Type 2 diabetes had blood sugar responses more aligned with their beliefs about sugar content than the actual sugar content of a drink.

Embracing Body Diversity

We are not all meant to have the same body size or shape. Genetics play a significant role in determining your natural weight range, known as your set point.

• Set Point Regulation: Your body resists weight changes outside its set point by adjusting metabolism and hunger signals.
• Natural Weight Changes: Aging, hormonal shifts (e.g., menopause), medications, or chronic stress can alter your set point.

For many, striving for weight loss through dieting pushes the body below its natural weight, triggering survival responses like reduced metabolism and increased hunger.

What to Do Instead of Dieting

Dieting often leads to a battle with your body, resulting in slower metabolism and heightened hunger. A more sustainable approach is to work with your body through intuitive eating.

What Is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating reconnects you with your body’s natural cues for hunger, fullness, and self-care while using nutrition knowledge in a supportive, non-restrictive way.

This approach helps your body meet its food, self-care, and emotional needs, allowing it to settle at the weight that best supports your health.

Healthier, Diet-Free Habits

Focusing on these habits can improve your energy, well-being, and relationship with food:

• Eat Regularly: Avoid urgent and ravenous hunger by planning meals and snacks.
• Nourish Your Body: Incorporate a variety of foods that make you feel good.
• Manage Stress: Reduce food- and body-related stress and address life stressors.
• Move for Joy: Engage in physical activity that feels enjoyable and sustainable.
• Understand Hunger and Fullness: Build trust in your body’s cues.
• Appreciate Body Diversity: Celebrate your unique body and focus on what feels good for you.
• Foster Positive Social Connections: Build supportive relationships and community.
• Let Go of Unrealistic Ideals: Shift your focus to what truly nourishes your mind and body.

Let Your Body Find Its Balance

Weight loss dieting isn’t healthy or sustainable. By shifting focus to caring for your body and embracing intuitive eating, you can improve your relationship with food, boost your energy, and feel good in your own skin.

💡 Ready to make a change?
Grab our free e-book for the first steps to joyful eating and start your intuitive eating journey today!

References

1. Hunger et al., 2020: An Evidence-Based Rationale for Adopting Weight-Inclusive Health Policy. DOI: 10.1111/sipr.12062
2. Tomiyama et al., 2010: Low-Calorie Dieting Increases Cortisol. DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181d9523c
3. Crum & Corbin, 2011: Mind Over Milkshakes: Mindsets, Not Just Nutrients, Determine Ghrelin Response. DOI: 10.1037/a0023467
4. Park et al., 2020: Glucose Metabolism Responds to Perceived Sugar Intake More Than Actual Sugar Intake. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72501-w