Is permanent weight loss possible?
In the last two articles, I explained why diets don’t work for permanent weight loss. The next question, of course, is what does? The answer is simple but it is not easy: eat when hungry; stop when full. This is like telling an alcoholic that he can overcome alcoholism by drinking in moderation. If he could do that he wouldn’t be an alcoholic. Overeaters do not know when they are hungry, and they do not know when they are full.
Alcohol and overeating are similar addictions, but they differ in one very crucial respect; food is a substance that cannot be abstained from completely. And for an addict, abstinence is infinitely easier than moderation. That is why the recidivism rate for dieters is so high.
So the question remains, is it possible to lose weight permanently? Yes, there is a way. And it is by abstinence, the only way for an addict to go – abstinence from addicting foods. Overeaters cannot abstain from eating completely because you need to eat to live. But recovering alcoholics don’t abstain from drinking completely; they just abstain from drinking alcohol. Overeaters don’t have to abstain from eating completely. They just have to abstain from eating the addictive foods.
The Addictive Foods
What are the addictive foods? Are they fats? Are they carbohydrates? Are they proteins? The answer is none of the above. These are the macronutrients of foods. They are all essential for life. What are not essential and what are addictive are processed fats, processed carbohydrates, processed proteins. In a nutshell, the standard American diet.
In 1992, there was a series of articles in the New York Times on the epidemic of obesity in the United States. It was called “Fat in America.” In response to the first of these articles, a French woman visiting here from France wrote a letter to the editor. I saved it because I felt it expressed the essence of the problem. It is as true today as it was then. She wrote:
How amazing that you publish a comprehensive article on American fat peopleand never mention American food, which is unique in the worldThe food is denatured, frozen, freeze-dried, canned, cooked ahead and microwaved. Processing destroys crucial elements available from fresh food, and the body is not satisfied. Thus, though the food is full of calories, the body craves more.
This is the description of an addictive substance. An overeater who abstains from eating the addictive foods and who couples such abstinence with regular exercise, has taken the first steps to stabilizing at a normal weight.
Such abstinence requires a complete change in what we eat for the rest of our lives. The goal is not weight loss, but the establishment of new habits of eating. Weight loss and permanent maintenance of that loss are natural side effects of the change in habits.
Weight loss will be very slow by this method, but that is desirable. Losing quickly is traumatic to our bodies and can therefore do damage, slowing metabolic rate and depleting lean body mass; it does not establish new patterns of eating. Losing gradually, almost imperceptibly, maintains body rhythms and metabolism, preserves lean body mass, establishes new habits, and makes permanent change more likely.
All that dieters can expect to lose in the battle of the bulge is the battle. By changing our eating habits instead, we can end the battle.
Mary Lou Williams, M. Ed., is a writer and lecturer in the field of nutrition. She welcomes inquiries. She can be reached at 267-6480.