ConsciouS Eating

The DIET POLICE: Beware ! You May Be Their Next Prisoner!

Julie was feeling really good about herself. She had just taken her first yoga class and was excited to learn this new way of experiencing her body. On the way home she stopped off to see her mother and to tell her about yoga. Her mother replied, "Well you better be doing something to get all that weight off. I don't know if yoga is it, but you better do something." Julie was crushed and that was the end of her yoga classes.
Julie had a hectic day; driving the kids all around, doing laundry and cleaning up the house for tomorrow's guests. It is well into the evening before she has a chance to rest and take the time to get something to eat. Just as she gets comfortable in front of the TV with some cookies , her husband walks in and says "Do you really think you should be eating that? I thought you were on a diet!". Julie feels lost, she hasn't had any time for herself all day and now, she can't even have her cookies.
If you have experienced similar situations, you are familiar with the tyranny of the DIET POLICE. The DIET POLICE force is made up of those "well meaning" family, friends and strangers who believe that if a women is overweight that somehow they have permission to criticize her food choices, her appearance, her clothes and even her intelligence. Most of these people do not realize that their behavior is rude and that instead of "motivating" or "helping" a woman lose weight it actually makes the problem worse. Women subjected to repeated contact with the DIET POLICE often experience feelings of low self-esteem, depression and hopelessness.

Do you really think you should be eating that ? I thought you were on a diet!

Julie is in the dressing room of her favorite store trying on dresses for a friend's wedding. She looks in the mirror and hears this voice inside her head "You are so fat! You can't wear anything! You can't go looking like that! You really blew it this time! What did you think you were doing when you kept putting off your diet? Now look at you!"
In this situation, Julie's "self-talk" reveals yet another source of the DIET POLICE. After years of listening to negative messages from herself and others, Julie has now become her own worst critic. She feels literally unable toeat without guilt and to look in the mirror without thinking she is fat and unacceptable.
Comments from the DIET POLICE often start a destructive cycle where the woman feels unacceptable to others but also helpless to do anything in her defense because she believes the DIET POLICE are "right" about her body. She then tries to avoid these comments in the future by going on another diet. With each diet the woman gives away her power to someone else, who tells her how she should eat . To regain her power, the woman may "diet" in public and eat what she wants in private. The woman starts what is called the "yo-yo" diet syndrome, where she repeatedly goes a diet, regains the weight she lost plus some and then goes on yet another diet.. When the weight returns, the woman feels very hopeless because she has tried everything and she is still overweight. She then feels shame about her perceived failure and begins to avoid social situations where she might encounter the DIET POLICE. The message from the DIET POLICE is that in order to fully participate in life, you must be thin.

Looks like you put on a few pounds!

The DIET POLICE are woefully uninformed about weight and dieting. They believe that a person who is overweight just doesn't have any will power. Their message is simple if you want to lose weight, you need to stick to a diet. The problem is that diets do not work. Studies show that 95% of the people who actually lose weight on a diet gain the weight back plus some within five years. With virtually everyone regaining the weight why do the DIET POLICE insist that the problem is with the dieter rather than with the diet?
Before lasting weight loss can occur we need to address the areas of our lives that feel out of control or unsatisfactory. Repeated dieting is really a
search for answers. Food is quick, safe and dependable and often the only choice available for coping with stress and/or feelings. People who cannot tell the difference between an emotional hunger and a physical hunger often respond to both food. As they begin to listen to their bodies to help them distinguish between feelings (fear, boredom, anger, sadness, etc.) and true physical hunger, it becomes easier to see other choices for dealing with the specific problem. They learn to use food more appropriately; eating to live, rather than living to eat.

DIETS DON'T WORK!

The DIET POLICE are offering a very simplistic solution for long term, complicated problems. According to the DIET POLICE, everything that is wrong with you/ your life could be solved if you would stick to a diet and lose those extra pounds. It is important it realize that there is no quick, magical answer to weight loss or the difficulties in your life. Real change and improvement takes time and a willingness to work through all the issues involved in weight loss maintenance.
Only by resolving your own issues with the internal police and helping those negative voices become positive voices can you find the strength to effectively deal the external DIET POLICE.
Julie meets her mother at lunch and orders a sandwich instead of her usual salad with diet dressing. When her mother starts to give her that," do you really think you should be eating all that!" look, Julie looks up, smiles and says "I love being able to eat without guilt, don't you?"

Print Send to a Friend Return to top of page