And since February has a day designated to celebrate love – Valentine's Day – I thought what better way to celebrate the mystery of love than with a series of blogs about how love has to begin with you.
Okay, I could feel the eye-roll there. Hang with me.
Let me be clear, I'm not talking about narcissistic personality disorders here or some mega-personality giving an hour talk about the greatness of self-love. I'm talking about something very basic, very important, and too-often overlooked, I'm talking about loving yourself enough to let go of dieting and trust your body.
Unlike a bunch of cynics out there, I love Valentine's Day. In a world so chock-full of hate and anger, why not celebrate love? More importantly, why not learn to love your body? So, in a month of love, my first blog post is about NO MORE DIETING.
Dieting is about restricting your food intake. It's pretty basic. But by doing this, you're also training your body to not listen to critical hunger signals. Basically, you're tricking your body, not trusting it to tell you what it needs. Inversely, when you do this, your body won't feel when it's full.
Dieting plays tricks on our brains. Modern-day diets aren't just about food restriction but also entire food-group restrictions. Diet fads play into that billion-dollar business, and line our bookstores' shelves. Again, people see results (or else Atkins would not be a millionaire). Those results, though, are statistically short-lived as our bodies fight to put that lost weight back on.
Weight cycling is unhealthy. Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight that can range from 5 – 10 pounds per cycle up to 50 pounds per cycle. When this weight loss occurs during dieting, it's referred to as yo-yo dieting. This causes some serious health problems like lowering our metabolisms, the increase of cortisol in our bodies (which is the primary stress hormone), and cardiovascular disease.
Dieting is "temporary." It's a quick-fix. A lifetime of health and love comes from a lifetime of good food choices and nutrition. It comes from a healthy relationship with food. There isn't a shortcut to it.
Why not begin February with love? Loving yourself enough not to diet. Instead, make food, exercise, and nutrition choices every day to support your body and its health.