If Diets Worked, We’d All Be Thin…
Do you think putting your food on a smaller plate is going to trick your stomach?
This is one of the New Year gimmicks that always shows up. Oh yes, to help people eat less, just give them smaller plates. If that worked, we would all be thin.
Of course it doesn’t work because people have the beautiful gift of hunger. I say beautiful gift because eating when you are hungry is such an extreme pleasure. But conversely, of course, NOT eating when you are hungry is miserable.
But back to the plate. The small plate doesn’t work because your body knows how many calories it received. And if you don’t eat enough food to satisfy your hunger because it didn’t fit on your plate, you are not making progress. You are simply using a very arbitrary measure (the size of a plate) to guide you.
With your thin mentality you use your unique body’s voice to guide you in what you need to eat, and how much, and when. You no longer rely on the size of a plate, the calculations of your “fit watch,” or by calculating points. You rely on your own hunger and your own lack of hunger to guide you.
Why has this wisdom been so discredited?
I hate to beat a dead horse, but honestly the answer is money. Diet companies make money by convincing you that you need their expert guidance to know what to eat. Food companies package smaller portion sizes and charge more money because they have convinced you that you can’t be trusted to know how much to eat. Even doctors, nutritionists, personal trainers etc., make money by repeating diet advice to you.
But if diet companies, food companies and health care professionals had the answer, why would obesity be such a problem. And not just obesity. Why would people who successfully maintain a smaller weight loss be so rare?
You don’t need special foods. You don’t need special scales. You don’t need anything except to reconnect eating and hunger. This is normal: You itch, you scratch. You need to use the bathroom, you go. You see something funny, you laugh. You are sad, you cry. You are hungry you eat. You are not hungry, you do not eat.
Ignore those highly paid celebrities who say that some program worked for them. THEY ARE PAID ACTORS. They are allowed to lie. They make millions of dollars being spokespeople. Do you really think that Marie Osmond eats Nutritsytem meals….?
And by the way, remember when Terry Bradshaw (famous football player) was a spokesperson for Nutrisystem? Have you soon recent photos of him?
Develop your thin mentality and repeat after me, “Diets do not work, and in time, make you fatter…”