“I’ve tried all my life to reach a size ‘x’. But, the harder I try, the further I seem to get from my goal. I look back over the past 20 years of my life and wonder what else I could’ve been doing with my time and energy... If I wasn’t dieting, prioritizing the gym over all else and saying ‘no’ to fun events with friends and family. I’ve been waiting to be the ‘perfect’ size to really start living my life. At times I regret it, but I can’t figure out how to give up on my goals,” Paige* recently shared as we discussed her relationship with food and her body.
This is a sentiment that is shared by women and men globally. Approximately 91% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance and the National Eating Disorder Association reports that over the past few decades, there has been substantial increases in body dissatisfaction in men.
“I can’t help but wonder how some women can eat what they want without regret. I get resentful that they can eat and be satisfied with their bodies, when all I can focus on is how my thighs keep growing” Paige disclosed. “As I count every last calorie, they’re able to just enjoy food?” she questioned. “I can’t even wrap my mind around it” she added.
Christy Harrison, Registered Dietitian and host of the popular The Food Psych Podcast, specializes in helping people find a peaceful relationship with food so they can focus on areas of their lives that really feed them.
“People believe it’s a magic bullet, but weight loss is elusive. We’re fed a promise that if you look a certain way, everything will fall into place. When people engage in weight loss strategies, what they wind up with more misery,” Christy shared as I spoke with her about her work and passion for supporting people to embrace their bodies and heal their relationship with food.
Studies prove that dieting is not only an ineffective way to lose weight for the long term, but also that weight loss efforts are not inherently “healthy.” 95-98% of people who lose weight dieting will regain it in 1-5 years. And, dieting is the most common precipitating factor in eating disorders, is associated with high rates of depression and health concerns as a result of weight-cycling.
Intuitive Eating and the Health At Every Size movement are powerful and transformative philosophies to help people move away from buying into the 60 billion dollar per year dieting industry by learning to trust their body’s inherent wisdom and focus on true health; holistic well-being.
To discuss these philosophies further, I turned to Christy.
“I help people accept their hunger. When they’re afraid of gaining weight, to acknowledge ‘I’m hungry’... it’s a big deal.” Christy explained.
Instead, people commonly dismiss their hunger for something else, most times in effort to avoid and suppress it because of a deeply ingrained fear of weight gain, or in effort to cope with distressing emotions.
“I work hand in hand with a therapist to help people improve their relationship to themselves and we work together to help them dismantle their misconceptions and limiting beliefs around body size.”
Christy advised, “across the board, it makes things easier for people to give up the dieting mentality. As they’re able to step outside of the dieting mentality, the internal pressure to look a certain way will lessen. Eventually, they’re able to put that down and put that away.”
Because mainstream media does not advertise a diverse range of body size, it makes it hard to believe that someone can be content, even happy, living in a larger or plus sized body. To remedy this, Christy recommends, “follow people of your own size, or larger, doing great things. Dressing fabulously. Engaging in loving relationships. Proving that they can be happy in the body that they’re in.”
“I encourage people to consider how they can go after what they want with the body they’re in, while beginning to understand the power they attribute to their weight and size.”
When asked how she would respond to someone who is putting their life on hold until they achieve a certain size, Christy passionately stated, “I would tell them that they deserve to do whatever they want in the body they’re in.”
Like Paige, men and women around the country want to give up the dieting cycle and find a sense of peace with their mind and body. And, like Paige, they’re just not sure how. Here are some suggestions to get started.
- Educate yourself about the philosophy and science behind the Health At Every Size movement and Intuitive Eating.
- Seek support from a therapist and dietitian who are trained to help you heal from disordered eating and negative body thoughts by learning new ways of relating to your mind, body and to food.
- Make an effort to expose yourself to people of all sizes. Studies have demonstrated that when people are exposed to a range of body sizes, they quickly become more comfortable with body diversity.
- Seek out a community of like-minded individuals to hear you, see you and support your journey as you begin to heal.
To learn more about Christy Harrison, MPH, RDN, CDN and The Food Psych Podcast, visit her website here.
Sarah Herstich is a therapist in Horsham, PA who specializes in working with women and teens struggling with body image and disordered eating. You can learn more about Sarah and her work at www.sarahherstichlcsw.com.