There are many reasons why improving our diet and acquiring healthy habits, but obsessing over our body shape and “fixing mistakes” are not among them. Today we are going to tell you seven Reasons Not To Diet.
Reasons Not To Diet
1. We should not become obsessed with our body shape
It seems so obvious that it sounds weird to say. But in the face of the obvious, science has arguments and studies.
On this occasion, studies confirm it: you can go on a diet or not, but don’t obsess over your body shape.
According to the analyses, low self-esteem is strongly related to eating habits and the practice of sport. Specifically, with food disruption, since this type of problem is associated with unhealthy eating habits and an unhealthy fixation on sport.
These problems are especially strong in adolescent girls and in the worst case this obsession can lead to body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
This pathology is suffered between one and five people out of every 100, it occurs in both men and women and begins in adolescence.
Therefore, as obvious as it may seem, obsessing about our body shape is not a good reason to go on a diet and its consequences can be more serious than we imagine.
2. Beware of bad habits
Sometimes, diet is synonymous with a severe dietary change, which is usually restrictive, with the sole objective of losing weight. This is incorrect. But it can also confuse us.
Associated to the diet usually very concrete concepts arrive: that if bad and good fats, levels of cholesterol, carbohydrates. This can lead us to acquire bad habits derived from the confusion or the disinformation.
In the best of cases, these bad habits will be useless (as happens with sweeteners, whose effect on health is practically null by themselves). In the worst case, we will adopt restrictive dietary patterns or miracles, which are very bad for our health. If you are going on a diet, do so by consulting a trusted expert.
3. Reasons Not to Diet: They can be bad for your health
Going on a diet, a priori, is a decision that watches over our health. This misconception is very important because a diet does not have to be healthy, or even balanced.
This is even more serious if we adopt a “general” diet, usually endorsed by popular culture or by magazines that have nothing to do with nutrition professionals.
An inadequate diet can be a very serious problem for our organism, and generates unnecessary stress.
On the other hand, even if we manage to lose weight quickly, we will gain it again in a short time, due to the rebound effect, whose consequences for health are very harmful. A bad diet is, no matter how you look at it, a bad decision.
4. Diet, disappointment and frustration often go hand in hand.
One of the most important points of healthy diets and habits is personal satisfaction.
If a diet does not work we may face a consequence response: a binge eating or the acquisition of bad habits that could lead to an obesogenic behavior.
However, changes don’t happen as quickly or, if they do, it’s not a good sign. The body has to adapt, and weight loss occurs over time, if we do it right.
What’s more, we may be complying with good healthy habits and yet not lose weight. And weight isn’t everything. Your health is much more important.
The reflection of good health is a reasonable weight and a better condition and quality of life. This is only achieved over time and many diets promise (false) short-term results.
5.Diet and adherence don’t get along very well
Probably the most important factor in a diet is adherence. With this term we know how to maintain acquired nutritional guidelines over time.
These guidelines should be the wonderful healthy habits that are always talked about. Good adherence is that which lasts for years. Ideally, it should last a lifetime. This is not to say that we continue on a diet until the end of our days.
On the contrary, it means that we must be able to adopt healthy eating patterns based on the diet we started in your day. This is against the more rancid diet concepts that are often used.
It is also important to keep to those concepts or adapt them in spite of the rest of factors. Over time we may maintain good habits and still gain weight again. The issue is to adhere to healthy habits and adjust to maintain them.
6. Reasons Not to Diet: Change your habits and learn to eat
The ideal would be to change the lifestyle. But since that’s a little pretentious, let’s start with healthy habits.
Acquiring small habits is much easier to do and maintain. We can start by eliminating sugar from our meals, increasing the amount of vegetables and reducing excess fat and ultra processed foods.
Acquiring small habits and sticking to them will lead to bigger goals. If we do it progressively, these habits will become something positive and maintained over time.
This is the base of a healthy lifestyle, a weight loss and getting in shape. A diet is something punctual whose consequences, if you do not change the rest of your habits, will be lost in time.
7. The secret is not only in the diet
Finally, there is a long-forgotten question: it is not just a question of eating well.
Among our healthy habits we cannot leave aside physical activity, in the form of movement or, better yet, exercise.
For those who complain about the weather, there are hundreds of ways to cope with the 150 minutes of physical activity a week recommended by the WHO. These 150 minutes are not synonymous with sport, but with avoiding sedentarism.
It is not necessary to sign up for a gym or consider a dedicated exercise plan. Sometimes it’s as easy as climbing stairs, cycling to work or taking a daily walk. The thing is to move.
This, together with the change in habits that we mentioned, and not a diet itself, is the combination that will ensure greater health and weight loss.
On the other hand, if we encourage ourselves to do sport, it is vital to know how to choose it properly in order to achieve the desired adherence and avoid potential injuries.
Finally, the change from sedentary life to active life is radical: better mood, more energy, more quality of life … and without having to suffer because of a diet.
