This Is What Happens When You Diet.

Consider:

Sally has been on a new diet for about a week. She has noticed she thinks about food a lot more while on this diet and is not usually satisfied by what she eats. On the 8th day of her diet, Sally starts her day at 8am with some green juice and a hard-boiled egg. She really wanted two waffles with some syrup but carbs aren’t allowed on this diet, so she abstained. (She has really wanted some waffles since she began this diet but has resisted so far.) She easily pushes the waffle thoughts aside and begins her commute to work. “It’s fine. It’ll pass.”

An hour later Sally is sitting at work, still thinking about those waffles. She doesn’t feel satisfied and is wondering if everyone else is thinking about their next meal, too. She distracts herself with some gum and a huge glass of water because she heard that can help with fullness. Unexpectedly, someone sends an email to the company saying they’ve brought homemade muffins for everyone, and Sally is captivated. She wrestles with the idea for a few minutes. “Are muffins bad for me? Am I seriously going to ruin this? They do sound really good, though….Maybe I’ll just workout extra hard later tonight.”

Finally, she reasons that, yes, she’ll workout an extra 30 minutes tonight because of the muffin. It’s about 11 am by now, and her mind has been captivated by negative thoughts: “I’m so weak. I can’t even “be good” until lunch.” She quickly resolves to be better — halfway through the muffin, she stops even though she really wanted the whole thing. Understandably, Sally is still hungry because her breakfast wasn’t very filling or satisfying and half a muffin was not enough.

30 minutes later she’s pondering eating the other half of the muffin. She walks over to the plate and finds herself eating the other half, plus two more. Filled with defeat and shame, Sally believes her diet and the day is ruined. She plans to start fresh tomorrow, but not after overindulging in the “last bad meal” she’ll ever have tonight.

Sound familiar?

If you’ve been there, it’s okay! You aren’t alone, but I understand your frustration. The good news is: despite what our dieting culture might tell you, this isn’t your fault. You’re genuinely hungry, and honestly that’s a good thing (it’s kind of how we stay alive). Let’s talk about the diet pendulum (also known as the hunger pendulum).

If you think of your hunger like a pendulum, one side is severe restriction (due to famine or intentional dieting) and the other is overconsumption (feasting after a long stretch of not eating). Ideally you want to swing gently in the middle, feeling slight hunger and fullness cues throughout the day. 

When you swing the pendulum back (restrict), the only natural result is to swing severely to the other side (overconsumption & lack of control around food). This is intentional.

Why? Because your body sees restriction as famine. It wants to keep you alive. It’s worried you won’t ever be fed again. So it wants to stock up while it can. This is one way we can overeat. It’s not lack of willpower. It’s how we’ve survived for hundreds of years.

Some people are able to keep that pendulum back with restriction, and those people are much more likely to develop a type of eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. That’s a serious disease — not praise-worthy. 

What can you do?

It’s tough, especially if you’ve been dieting for a long time but the cure is to stop restricting. (And keep it that way.) It will feel strange and uncomfortable until your body is able to settle somewhere in the middle of the pendulum. Establishing a steady pulse instead of severely swinging the pendulum back and forth will make eating less stressful for you.

PS: It’s definitely worth noting that this blog post has oversimplified this process and establishing a healthy relationship with food is best accompanied by a registered dietitian, therapist and other healthcare professionals when necessary.

Note: This is not meant to substitute individualized care from your healthcare professional. This is for educational purposes only.