Have you ever dieted?

If you answered “yes,” I imagine you’ve also experienced some “failures.”

Studies show that:

• Roughly 80%of people who shed a significant portion of their body fat will not maintain that degree of weight loss for 12 months.
• 90% of diets fail
• There’s a 5% chance of keeping off the weight loss for five years
• 97 percent of dieters regain everything they lost and then some within three years

So why is it that we are wildly unsuccessful when trying to pursue weight loss?

Here’s a brain based perspective…

Every time we jump head first into a new diet plan, our brain will reflexively ask one simple, yet valuable question: “Is this safe?”

Here are 3 scenarios as to why diets can be interpreted as unsafe and why “failing” on our diet is healthy for our survival:

✔️Large 180 degree changes can be extremely stressful on the nervous system — while the nervous system craves newness and novelty — too much change, all at once and too quickly can be internalized as threatening (stressful) for you, resulting in inconsistencies and non-compliance. When we overhaul our environment (how we eat, what we eat, how much of what we eat, where we shop, how we prep etc.) the brain will feel overwhelmed by all the changes. When we experience overwhelm a natural outcome will be our reflexive survival responses. We may rebel (fight response), we may flee (avoid the overwhelm and self soothe with food), we may freeze (disassociate and create internal stress in the body) and we may fawn (self abandon our needs). The key to sustainable changes is to make things imperceivable, gentle and safe, which in many cases can be really challenging.

✔️ Most diets involve some element of restriction — the rigidity is triggering for the nervous system because it leaves little to no room for you to have options or a voice. When our opinions, feelings, and voice are not supported in an experience we can feel dis-empowered, frustrated and defeated. Did you know that having options and choice is a trauma informed practice that allows you to feel safe? This means that it is essential for you and your feelings to be brought into your nutrition plan. How you feel in the process is essential.

✔️And lastly many restricted diets often disregard our bio-individuality – meaning our genetics, gut health, how we emotionally connect and relate to food, our upbringing and trauma are not factored in. When we leave out parts of ourselves, we will notice that we are forcing ourselves to fit into a mold. We begin to self abandon parts of our needs, values, and cravings. This is unsustainable and as a result we may soon find ourselves being “inconsistent”.

“Failing” on a diet plan is a survival mechanism built into our survival to help keep us safe and alive. Ultimately anything we “fail” at is a reflection of something that was unsustainable to begin with.

If you’re curious to learn more about how you can continue to step away from diet culture and more towards intuitive eating please feel free to join my Better Expert Waitlist.

Inside of Better Expert, we take a brain based approach to nutrition where you are taught how look beyond what you’re eating and assess other areas of your nervous system that would influence your body’s ability to break down, uptake, and digest food.

Click here: www.coachalyssachang.com/better-expert