eating, yoyo dieting, bingeing, anxious exercise focused on ‘burning calories’, and constant thoughts about food and weight. All of these consequences are debilitating as they stop us from living rich and meaningful lives, and enjoying the things that are important to us. In some cases, such as disease states
like cancer or kidney failure, special diets may be necessary. But for general weight loss, I (as well as a groundswell of doctors, dietitians, and other health professionals) firmly believe that the traditional dieting approach can have detrimental effects. This traditional approach frequently leads to weight cycling and the body dissatisfaction, food shaming, guilt, restriction, and disappointment that go with it.
follow. The non-diet approach is a fantastic alternative to traditional dieting and is balanced, realistic, and respectful to ourselves and our bodies. I've been fortunate enough to learn
about the non-diet approach from leaders in the field such as Dr. Rick Kausman, Linda Bacon, and dietitians Tara MacGregor, Fiona Sutherland, and Fiona Willer. Having healed my own issues around food and body image mainly through this approach and having witnessed immensely positive physical and psychological changes in my non- diet clients, I now believe that the non-diet approach is the only sensible, compassionate, and indeed effective form of weight management that exists. "The key to successfully managing
your weight is to focus on making realistic changes to your lifestyle rather than focusing on changing your body." [Dr. Rick Kausman, If Not Dieting®]
BUT ISN'T DIET IMPORTANT? Of course it is. But dieting in the sense of specific, targeted calorie or nutrient reduction can have many harmful effects. It can lead to emotional
JUNE 2017 21
FOCUS ON HOW, NOT JUST WHAT YOU EAT No longer can we afford to solely focus on ‘what’ to eat without investigating ‘how’ we eat. As a dietitian who has studied all the ‘what’ there is to know about nutrition, I feel the ‘how’ is far more important than any diet plan or nutrition information panel. The ‘how’ of eating hinges on our personal
relationship to food and to our bodies. The past 40 years of nutritional
science has provided us with plenty of evidence on healthy foods to eat, much of it conflicting. There are scientists who advocate a paleo diet, and those who swear by veganism. The only thing nearly all nutritional experts can agree on is the need for increased intake of fruits and especially vegetables in our modern diet. Most people would agree that their grandmothers told them the exact same thing without spending millions of dollars on research to prove her point. It is now time we moved beyond
the ‘what’ to eat. We need to learn and embrace ‘how’ to eat. As the mountain of conflicting scientific evidence suggest, the specifics of ‘what’ to eat will never be clear on an individual level. A healthy approach includes being
physically active and generally eating what your body needs. It includes enjoying a wide variety of foods, without feeling guilty, and paying attention to your body, which can tell you when you are physically hungry, full, or just satisfied. This is healthier than when most of your eating is triggered by psychological needs such as boredom
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