For years now, I have been asked to share my thoughts on diets and dieting.
And for years, I have said no. The main reason I hesitate to share is because, in the past, I was verbally abused and mistreated by people who didn’t like my stance on diets and dieting. If you aren’t interested in my thoughts, then you should probably just skip this post. Maybe check out my recipe for Homemade Popcorn instead. 😉
What do I think about diets and dieting? I think diets are dumb. I don’t think anyone should be on a diet unless it’s for medical reasons. Why? Because the first three letters of diet are D-I-E.
Let me start by explaining a little bit of my past so you can understand where I’m coming from.
When Barry and I were first married, I was overweight. My doctor told me that I needed to lose weight. It was kind of a smack in the face to me. You know how it makes you feel when you know you are bigger than you should be and someone tells you, “hey, you’re fat you need to lose weight.”? It kind of takes you by surprise. You may have known all along that you needed to lose weight, but when someone tells you for the first time, it hurts. So you just want to wallow in it a little bit.
That’s how I first started down a path of dieting. I’ve tried a lot of different diets. And I have to tell you, they don’t work. At least not in the long run. Do you lose weight? Yes. But unless you found a diet that you can be on for every day of your entire life until you die; they aren’t a good idea!
Because of my yo-yo diets and dieting, I had several years where I was absolutely crazy. I had a problem with under-eating and over-exercising. I was afraid to get back to a place where I would be called fat again, so I went to the extreme. Sure, I lost a lot of weight, but it was a hard road! I misused my body, and I went on a couple diets that I’m not proud of.
The last diet I was on basically destroyed my metabolism. I was losing hair, I was always cold and I just generally felt crummy. After I quit that diet and kind of went public about it, I received so much negative feedback that it made me not want to talk about again.
What do I want to tell you today about diets and dieting?
I want you to know that diets are not the answer! I know how it feels to be desperate looking for any possible solution. It’s a terrible place to be, and you just feel awful. I know I always wanted an “easy” weight loss button, but it just isn’t there! Losing weight and getting healthy is hard. It’s takes commitment and discipline. In the past few years, I’ve been able to overcome my crazy dieting place and live in the land of moderation. I don’t want to live in a place where I feel smothered by diet rules.
And y’all, I have to tell you… it feels so good!
You may be in a cycle of fad diets right now. Everybody wants a quick fix. We go on diets thinking, “I’m going to eat only grapefruit and steak and lose 30lbs.” Will you lose weight? Yes, probably. But can you eat steak and grapefruit every day for the rest of your life? Probably not. But diets are not a long-term thing. Changing your lifestyle to one of moderation; now that’s something that you can maintain.
People always ask me, “how do you eat all that bread?! How do you eat brownies on Sunday? Why do you eat butter and fat bombs, isn’t it going to make you fat?” Y’all – I’m not a string bean! I’ve never been a super skinny person! I wear a size 12 pants and a medium/large shirt. When I was smaller and wore smaller clothes, was I happy? No. I felt unhappy anytime I felt out of control with what I was eating. Check out Healthy at Any Size; it really helped me get out of my spiral of dieting.
You need to be happy in your body and be happy with how you feel.
Anytime a diet cuts a complete food group out, it should cause you to take a step back and look at it. Why should you not eat everything God made? This idea of course does NOT include people who are allergic to certain foods or who have special restrictions for health or other valid reasons. That is totally different. But I learned to eat healthy by eating whole foods.
Also, I only eat when I’m hungry and I always stop when I’m full. I had to learn the signals of hunger. I listen to my body. When I’m hungry, I eat. But if I’m not hungry, it doesn’t matter how good food looks, I won’t eat it. Learn to listen to your body!
How can you avoid the crazy cycle of diets and dieting?
Just learn to eat real, whole foods. Eat more fruits and vegetables, more good healthy proteins, more healthy fats. It’s hard making the change from SAD (the Standard American Diet), but it’s worth it. Embrace a lifestyle of moderation and spend less time worrying about diets and dieting and more time enjoying the real, whole foods on your plate.
What do you think about diets and dieting? Do you have a past or experiences like mine?
You go, girl! You’ve been really brave sharing honestly over the years, and I know you’ve gotten a lot of flack for it. Thanks for having integrity and sharing your real opinions!
Thanks for the kind words. I know we are all grateful for Stacy’s honesty!
Julie, HH Team
Oh, THANK YOU!!!! I have slowly been gaining weight (about 15 pounds), and for the first time, have had a hard time losing it. This has been going on for the past 2 years. I’ve been wondering when it’s time to just accept the weight gain, and enjoy my life instead of always being frustrated about what I wished I looked like. I think it’s time……..
Thanks for commenting! I hope you find peace with your weight. It’s a great place to be 🙂
Julie, HH Team
It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Since last spring I’ve lost 50 lbs. I started gaining weight in my 40’s (I’m 59) and was getting tired of feeling uncomfortable and hating the way clothes looked on me. I started out by cutting back on the food on my plate little by little then a few months in started keeping track of calories. That’s what helped me the most. I tried to make sure that since I was eating less food that I made it count as far as eating as healthy as I could. If I got hungry between meals it was veggies, fruit, water, tea or coffee. Or even nuts if I just couldn’t wait until the next meal. Once or twice a week I let myself eat a little bit more or maybe a sweet so that I wouldn’t drive myself crazy. That didn’t harm my progress because it made me feel less deprived. I am so happy now with the way I look and feel. I continue to eat healthy but with a cheat meal or snack here and there so I feel “normal.” 🙂
Moderation is key! Sounds like you’ve got figured out what works for you and that is what matters 🙂
Julie, HH Team
I was proud of you when you came clean about how you quit that last diet. I think all these diets in our world are a mechanism to drive us into disordered thinking about (relationships with) food. I’m glad you’ve come to a happy place with eating, food and weight. I know I am still working on that for myself. .
That is so true! Dieting definitely leads to unhealthy relationships with and mindsets about food! I hope you are able to come to a happy place as well.
Julie, HH Team
Thank you so much for saying this out loud! I know how I should eat but the world bombards us with with so much junk! It’s hard to know what is right! I am going to check out some of the stuff you have posted because I have come to trust what you post over the years because it makes sense and is not extreme!
Thanks for the kind words, Jody. Stacy knows her stuff 🙂 Good luck in your healthy eating journey!
Julie, HH Team
I think you are RIGHT ON!
My mom keeps saying, “You should do the Whole 30.” And last year, I bought the “Trim Healthy Mama” books.
However, I have realized that those things are not the answer. The answers are overall smaller portions and healthier food. Not eating junk food late at night (every night) and adding some moderate exercise. AND, much more water than coke!
Blessings to you! I just discovered you today via http://www.themodestmomblog.com/.
I am TERRIBLE at my home management so I look forward to reading some of your articles.
Good for you Tori! And thanks for the kind words. You will love Stacy’s insight – she has such great advice in the area of home management 🙂
Julie, HH Team
Amen on the dieting. Good for you. Common sense and moderation. Something we’ve lost along the way. Good post. 🙂
Common sense goes a long way doesn’t it?! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Julie, HH Team
Thank you for sharing your story! It really resonated with me. I have been a yo-yo dieter my entire adult life, after doing the extremes in high school & college. Over the last year, I have finally embraced the fact that I like food, and I’m no longer going to deprive myself of things I like. While I’m no skinny mini, I am healthy, and that’s all that matters. My goal for the upcoming year (I just had a birthday and make resolutions then instead of in January), is to lessen our dependence on convenience foods and carry out and get back to cooking on a regular basis. I think just being smart about what we eat day in and day out is the way to go.
Thanks for the comment, Stephanie. I agree, cooking from scratch is one of best things you can do for healthy lifestyle – good luck in your resolutions!
Julie, HH Team