Say No to Dieting and Say Yes to Healthy Living!
added 01/03/12
The beginning of the year means many will have made resolutions to lose weight—resolutions that often fail by February.
by Mary Saucier Choate, M.S., R.D., L.D.
Dietitian and Food and Nutrition Educator
The idea of dieting and getting to that goal weight offers so many promises: better health, more energy, and improved fitness. It is too bad these promises are seldom fulfilled for very long, if at all. Strict dieting for weight loss “at all costs” can lead to some short-lived weight loss and reaching some health goals, but when the bad habits and weight return, these benefits are lost again.
The good news is that all of these goals can be reached by focusing on healthy lifestyle choices rather than weight.
Healthy Choices
Healthful daily choices may or may not reduce weight, but can result in better health, more energy, and improved fitness that lasts. This overall approach to health, instead of one that is weight-focused, has been shown to be long lasting. Sustainable health goals are based on many measures of health, not a single number on a scale: measures such as improved cholesterol levels, improved blood glucose control, better blood pressure, and improved fitness levels including stamina and strength, balance, and flexibility, among others. This kind of approach, formally titled “Health At Every Size” or HAES, promotes balanced eating, enjoyable physical activity, and respect for the diversity of body shapes and sizes.
You might not have realized that the road to good health could bypass the scale, but many studies have shown this to be the case. For example, many of us mistakenly believe that overweight means an increased risk of death, but 2005 research published in the Annals of Epidemiology and separate research in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that overweight status was not linked with increased mortality rate when compared with underweight or obese weights.
The Research
Much of the research around weight and health that concludes overweight causes a variety of health problems often fails to factor in important considerations, such as a person’s fitness level, exercise routine or lack thereof, kind of diet, yo-yo dieting, diet drug use, economic status, or family history. These factors complicate the relationship between weight and health. For example, if a study subject is overweight and is using or has used diet drugs that affect heart health and the researchers don’t factor this in, the results can look like it is the weight causing the heart problems and not the drug side effects.
The Scale
What if the number on the scale didn’t matter? Well, in fact, it very often doesn’t. Lifestyle changes such as choosing more healthful whole foods and being more active can reduce blood pressure, improve blood lipids like cholesterol, and improve insulin sensitivity. Choosing whole foods and physical activities that you enjoy contribute to a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that doesn’t require stringent food rules or a gym membership to reach healthy goals.
Part of the problem is the status quo. When everyone “knows” something is true—even if it isn’t—it is hard to break through with the facts. In the past, the status quo was such that real physicians were in advertisements for mentholated cigarettes and “everyone” knew you needed eight glasses of water a day. Now we know better, but it can take a long time for the real facts to get through when “everyone knows” you can’t be fit and fat.
The HAES Manifesto
The HAES Manifesto has a list of suggested actions you can take to improve your own well-being and educate others about what real, sustainable health means:
1. Accept your size. Love and appreciate the body you have. Self-acceptance empowers you to move on and make positive changes.
2. Trust yourself. We all have internal systems designed to keep us healthy—and at a healthy weight. Support your body in naturally finding its appropriate weight by honoring its signals of hunger, fullness, and appetite.
3. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits. Develop and nurture connections with others, and look for purpose and meaning in your life. Fulfilling your social, emotional, and spiritual needs restores food to its rightful place as a source of nourishment and pleasure.
Find the joy in moving your body and becoming more physically vital in your everyday life.
Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full, and seek out pleasurable and satisfying foods.
Tailor your tastes so that you enjoy more nutritious foods, staying mindful that there is plenty of room for less nutritious choices in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle.
4. Embrace size diversity. Humans come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Open yourself to the beauty found across the spectrum, and support others in recognizing their unique attractiveness.
MyPlate
What does healthful living without dieting include? One of the easiest places to start is with the new MyPlate guide at www.MyPlate.gov. Making half of your plate vegetables and fruit, one-quarter protein, and one-quarter whole grains will nourish your body with the naturally complex mixture of nutrients that real whole foods offer. Increasing your activity level can mean simply parking farther away every time you park the car when shopping, choosing the stairs on purpose instead of the elevator, and returning the grocery cart to the store lobby. When you are ready, think about activities you used to enjoy or ones you would like to try, and start slowly. Getting healthy can be very pleasant, especially when you focus on health and not on the bathroom scale.
For More Information
- McGee DL; Diverse Populations Collaboration. Ann Epidemiol. 2005 Feb;15(2):87-97. Body mass index and mortality: a meta-analysis based on person-level data from twenty-six observational studies.
- JAMA. 2005;293(15):1861-1867. Excess Deaths Associated With Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity
- Paul Campos, et al; International Journal of Epidemiology (February 2006) 35 (1): 55-60. The epidemiology of overweight and obesity: public health crisis or moral panic?
- Bacon L; Aphramor L ;Nutrition Journal 2011, 10:9 Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift
