Another new year. Right now, we are surrounded by the fever of new year’s resolutions to lose weight and keep it off. The yearly “do-over.” A new diet can temporarily lift one’s spirits by energizing the belief that this will be the year the weight will finally come off.
This January, the world went on a diet. Again. People decided to quit sugar, eat less and exercise more. While controlling what we eat can last for a while, unsustainable behaviors usually fall off and the weight returns. If you feel like you lost the battle over the last 12 months, you might not know what’s going on. When you don’t eat enough, your hunger increases. Your body begins to defend its set point. This is the weight your body decides is the best for homeostasis. Most likely it’s the higher weight you believe you should lose. But unfortunately, within every decade of life, our bodies change. The results of these changes aren’t up to you.
Last year, I finished menopause and gained 10 pounds over the summer. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a twinge of disappointment when I learned that I gained weight. But instead of dieting, I practiced body kindness and stayed away from self-blame. I got enough to eat every day and kept my same exercise schedule. I’m extremely blessed to live inside a healthy mature body that’s moving well. I thank my past self for taking care of it when I was young. Now it’s paying off. I don’t want to ruin what I accomplished by putting my body through a grueling diet for a lousy 10 lbs. Screw that! I refuse to punish myself because I saw a bigger number during a doctor’s office weigh-in. At my age, life is too short. I’m not going to become a victim of the weight loss mantra that says, “You don’t have to put up with weight gain,” or “You can achieve the body you want.” I’m too smart for that. You can be too.
My body moved my setpoint. What my healthy weight was when I was younger has changed. It’s part of growing older that most women go through. So, feeling bad about gaining a few extra pounds at my age doesn’t make any sense. What you need to know is weight loss during menopause for women over 50 is a prime target for the weight loss empire. But don’t get pulled in. Become an objective viewer and learn from it. Don’t be a victim of the hype and empty promises. Keep your money. Take note of how they tell viewers they need to change themselves because someone else already has. Actors are hired every day to follow a script. Also take note of what they are NOT saying, “Weight loss diets don’t work, and you’ll eventually gain the weight back, so we’ll see you next year.” What’s unsaid often speaks the loudest.
If you’re worried about weight gain, here’s what you need to know.
Eating for a smaller body leads to a higher weight. Yep, if you eat below your energy needs for a while this behavior will set off a signal telling your brain to adjust your appetite to increase the amount of food so your body gets what it needs. Sure, depriving yourself can cause weight loss, but as soon as you return to your old eating habits your weight will go back up. The result may be a weight higher than before. Honor your hunger. Feeling full and satisfied after consuming a balanced meal is healthy eating.
Your body needs nourishment every 3 to 4 hours. Eating one meal a day after skipping breakfast and then lunch increases the likelihood, you’ll eat more calories than you need in the form of high-energy foods and drinks to quickly extinguish hunger. Eating once a day forces your body to endure starvation which will cause it to adapt. This is no joke if you think you’re going to lose weight by doing this. What you’re doing instead is increasing your body’s desperation for food. Your body will slow metabolism and increase body weight to deal with the scarcity of nourishment. So, eat enough food throughout the day. Not just at night.
Healthy eating includes ALL food groups, period. Avoiding dairy, gluten, sugar, soy, and fat if you are healthy, and don’t require a special meal plan, means you’re cutting out more than half of a healthy diet. You’re not eating better, you’re depriving yourself. Most likely the food alternatives you’re selecting don’t taste as good as the originals, which leaves you feeling hungry instead of satiated. Choosing to eat like this for a while can lead to malnourishment. The deficiencies I usually see are iron, calcium, vitamin D, various B vitamins, and protein.
You’re receiving bad advice if it demonizes food groups forcing a toxic relationship with food instead of encouraging a healthy one. If you’re always feeling tired or anxious it might be time to reevaluate where you’re getting your nutrition advice. When you know better, then you can do better.
If you’re planning to go on a diet to improve your health, because you believe you’re overweight, the best thing you can do is let go of the belief that only a thin body is a healthy body. You don’t have to be in love with what you see in the mirror, but you can learn to develop a healthy respect for your body by nourishing yourself properly and engaging in regular exercise by doing the activities you love.
Chances are your body weight is somewhere within the spectrum of all normal shapes and sizes and is healthier for you than the weight loss army would like you to believe. There’s a reason the diet commercials bombard us at the beginning of every year. They’re looking to lure in people who feel like failures from last year’s diets. The holidays are over and a new reality hits. They renew false hope by introducing something new to coerce them back into the diet culture. Because, of course, someone else has already “done it.” But don’t worry, if you don’t lose weight this year, they’ll be back again next January.
Dietitian side notes:
- Everyone who experiences menopause should know bone and heart health are extremely important. Weight cycling caused by dieting may negatively affect the bones and the heart.
- Behaviors and attitudes toward weight loss, dieting, and control of food are the number one causes of eating disorders.
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