According to several shocking, long-term studies, girls who start dieting as teenagers
are three times more likely to be overweight five years later, even if they started at a
normal weight!
In addition, all of these studies found that the same factors that predicted weight gain
also predicated the development of eating disorders.
The undeniable fact is that dieting just doesn’t solve our weight issues.
In fact, it
leaves us in a more miserable state, destroying our self-confidence. And over time, it
causes us to lose faith in ourselves, along with any hope that we can achieve our
weight goals and have a healthy body.
Studies show that 95% of people who go on a weight loss diet gain all the weight
back again - sometimes more - within a year or two.
The shocking truth that the diet industry doesn’t want you to know is that they rake in
profits of 72 billion dollars a year, but more people than ever are overweight. As a body transformation mentor for Muslim mums, I have the privilege to coach women from different backgrounds all over the world - from community leaders to corporate leaders to housewives. I can never stress strongly or often enough that we all face the same struggles when it comes to body image.
Diets don’t only fail to help us achieve what we want, they actually increase hatred of our bodies, cause severe emotional eating episodes, and make us believe that we are addicted to food. The diet culture also affects women on deeper levels, making them feel that they will never be enough, that they will never meet the standards forced upon them by the diet industry (which are actually designed to keep them stuck where they are so that they remain perpetual customers), and that they will be forever trapped by their own weight, hating every single inch of their bodies.
This kind of thinking puts us in a state of perpetual war with our bodies, and
associates our self-worth with the number on the scale. The lower the number, the greater our feeling of worth becomes. It’s all about losing weight, not paying attention to our actual physical and mental health.
While we lose our identities by constantly seeking diet trends, miracle products, and absurdly expensive surgeries, the diet industry makes billions. The question is, do these trends really heal the root cause of our poor body image, or just make things worse?
The real problem lies in our emotional connection with food. As we all know, we are wired to love food. Food is at the centre of our most precious family memories. So how can we expect to continue a restrictive diet that bans the foods we love? So what is the solution then?
According to neuroscience, 80% of our success simply depends on our mindset. As I always say, most people are not willing to do the mental workout!
The only way out of this silly yo-yo diet cycle is to start investing in our mindsets and working on the psychology behind eating - behind the ideal, healthy body - not the ideal body the con artists and manipulative advertisers in the diet industry try to implant deeply in our minds to make us slaves to their products forever.
From my experience in the field of body transformation, we sometimes need to dig deeper than just our mindset, we need to question our beliefs about our bodies and the myths we believe about diets and what health truly is.
In the next couple of articles, I will share simple, powerful techniques so you can experience a quantum shift in your mindset and finally achieve long-term results. You will discover mind-blowing strategies you can use to enjoy your favourite foods while effortlessly getting in shape. If you’re fed up with diets that don’t work and you’re ready for true, healthy change, freedom and your ideal body are just around the corner.
