weight and weight watchers

January 21, 2003

Hello,

this is a touchy issue, I know. And I am not on steroids so what am I

getting involved here!

Eight years ago I was a guinea pig for a research project on dieting

for a local post doc degree, had to fill out lots of questionaires

and my weight and well-being and body image idea etc. was checked

over several months. I have never seen the actual research paper but

I got a lot of medical and psychological info on the effects of

dieting with the result that I will not ever go on a diet again,

count calories or keep a food diary. Just a little bit of what I have

been told back then:

from

Weight Preoccupation and Yo-Yo Dieting: Weight preoccupation includes

counting calories, exercising for the purposes of weight loss or

continually trying to lose weight. A consequence of weight

preoccupation is the cycle of yo-yo dieting and bingeing, where

dieters become trapped in a repeated cycle of weight loss and weight

gain. Any attempt by the individual to limit caloric intake causes

the body to alter the rate at which calories are burned to prevent

permanent weight loss (Keys et al, 1950). In fact, studies show that

65 to 95% of people will gain back the weight they lose, regardless

of age. Many researchers believe this is related to the fact that the

human body has a " set point " weight range at which it naturally

settles when the person reaches maturity ( and Gurin, 1982;

Polivy and Herman, 1983; Ciliska, 1990). This set point is an

adaptive mechanism that allows for weight variation only through

sustained changes in eating patterns and exercise levels. It is now

believed that dieting can lead to permanent overweight, also known

as " diet induced overweight " .

There is a world of difference between dieting and healthy diet,

betwen boring exercises to burn calories and enjoyable movement.

Don't torture yourselves, women!

Enjoy your life!

Sophie

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