What is Weight Cycling & Why Is It A Risk to Our Health?
As a society there is a misconception by which we equate thin-ness to health and something worth celebrating, whilst larger bodies are deemed to be on the unhealthy side of the spectrum and are labelled as something that needs “fixing” or worked on.
But how many of us know someone who lives in a smaller body, whose habits could by no means be deemed healthful? Maybe they drink a lot of alcohol, smoke a lot of cigarettes, rarely exercise, eat too little or solely nutrient-sparse foods, don’t look after their mental health, don’t get enough sleep etc. Yet the simple fact that they reside in a smaller body by society’s standards, would result in the majority of people assuming them to be healthier than someone who resides in a larger body.
Weight does not equal behaviour and our health is determined largely by our habits of action and the patterns that we continue on a daily basis amongst other determinants.
WHAT IS WEIGHT CYCLING?
Weight Cycling is the process when one continually gains and loses weight and it wreaks havoc on our bodies internal processes and the physiological infrastructure that keeps our body and its systems running efficiently. The process of us continually flitting between the two is actually doing us more damage than were we to stay at a consistent, stable higher or lower weight.
Research also shows that consistent and long-term losing and gaining of weight from dieting is an independent risk factor for:
Cardiovascular disease
Inflammation
High blood pressure
Insulin resistance
“Biologically our body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode - metabolism slows down and food carvings escalate. And with each diet the body learns and adapts, resulting in rebound weight gain. Consequently our patients feel like they are a failure - but it is dieting that has failed them.” (1)
Additionally, the pursuit of weight loss and perpetuation of weight cycling harms our relationship with food, our mind and our body. As dieting is the number one predictor of weight gain and two thirds of people gain more weight back after dieting, it doesn’t make sense for us to pursue weight loss through dieting in the first place, when more often than not the body will be larger after dieting than before it.
“The relationship between dieting and gaining more weight back is so strong that an Australian National Health & medical research council rated it a level A evidence which according to academic Fiona Willer is the scientific equivalent of saying smoking causes lung cancer.” (2)
LOOK AT IT THIS WAY….
Imagine taking a hair loss medication that would grow back your hair for a few weeks but then causes severe to complete hair loss and damages the hair follicles permanently…. Imagine taking heart medication that would improve your heart’s ability to pump blood round your body for a few weeks but in ultimately causes severe heart failure and damages it… Imagine taking skin rash medication that would improve your skin’s appearance for few weeks but in the long run causes severe skin rashes and damages it permanently…
Would you then blame yourself for the medication not working and proceed to keep using it? Of course you wouldn’t! The same should go for dieting, no matter whether a health care professional prescribes it or not.
Sources (1),(2): Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S and Elyse Resch, MS, CEDRD-S, FAND
If you or a loved one suffers from the adverse effects of dieting including but not limited to binge eating, I would love to hear from you! You can book a free consultation call with me by clicking the button below - I look forward to hearing from you.
Suzie C.HYP RTT
Binge Eating & Body Confidence Therapist, LoveFoodTherapy.com
