It’s that time of year again: the New Year! Everybody’s making artsy posts on social media about their resolutions and how this coming year is going to be refreshing and wonderful, and hopefully it will be! But let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
Why are there so many New Year’s goals about weight loss?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, most of which have to do with some sort of societal pressure. Sometimes it feels like we have to set some sort of weight loss goal if we’re not at the “ideal” weight that society tells us that we should be. Other times, everyone around us is making a goal about losing weight, even people that don’t seem like they want or “need” to lose weight, so we feel like we should be doing it too. Sometimes it’s more specific, such as trying to lose weight before a particular event, like a wedding or summer vacation. Also for a lot of us, the holidays are a busy and chaotic time when we don’t always feel like we have as much control in our lives as we would want, so now that they’re over, it feels like a good time to reset and start fresh, including with our eating and exercise habits.
But here’s the catch. Weight loss is often not a healthy or sustainable goal for most people. Even if you set a SMART Goal or write an implementation intention, it’s going to be hard to lose weight for a lot of people because that’s not the best goal for them, it’s just one that they’ve set because they feel like they have to or because everyone else did. So let’s talk about why losing weight is not the best New Year’s resolution.
Most of the diets out there are…not great.
A lot of people setting New Year’s resolutions to lose weight will say that they’re going to do it with a particular diet, like keto or WW. So let’s talk about some of the big ones, and their pros and cons.
Keto/Atkins. Both the keto diet and the Atkins diet are low-carbohydrate, high-fat, high-protein diets whose goal is to lose weight by convincing your body to burn fat instead of carbs for fuel. Our cells have evolved to use carbs as their main source of energy, but providing very few carbs for your body shifts you to a form of metabolism called ketosis (what the keto diet is named after), where your body is forced to use fat and other sources of energy to build molecules called ketones that your cells can use instead of carbs. So yes, the keto and Atkins diets may convince your body to burn fat and some studies have found them to be effective for losing weight. However, these diets and their associated weight loss are almost never sustainable. Most of us aren’t jumping for joy at the idea of eating little to no bread or pasta or fruit or sweets for the rest of our lives, and that makes it hard to keep this diet going.
There are also some concerns about these diets’ recommendations. First, the human brain requires a certain amount (130g) of carbohydrates each day to maintain optimal function. It can work on ketones instead, but this is considered a stress response and the brain is not as likely to be at its best if it’s running on ketones instead of carbs. However, many keto and Atkins sources will recommend carbohydrate intakes much lower than 130g, which can be dangerous.
Also, these diets demonize all carbohydrates, but carbohydrates themselves are not a bad thing – our cells evolved to run on them for a reason! Fruits are often described as high-carb or high-sugar because they have lots of fructose, but the fructose in fruit is very different from the fructose in processed high fructose corn syrup, and there are a ton of other nutrients in fruits that are really good for you, like vitamins and antioxidants. So why would anyone recommend that we eat less fruit?
The keto and Atkins diets also don’t agree with the recommendations from several reputable scientific organizations, such as the American Heart Association, which recommends that 55-60% of calories each day come from complex carbohydrates, whereas some Atkins recommendations say that as little as 10% of calories each day should come from carbohydrates, and some keto recommendations are as low as 5%, both of which are, again, frighteningly low. Some studies have also found negative side effects from these diets; for example, some studies have found that the production of ketones in the keto diet also promotes the production of LDL cholesterol, which is the “bad” cholesterol that we generally want to keep low to keep our hearts and blood vessels healthy.
While these diets could be effective for losing weight, it could be dangerous and come with some unfortunate side effects.
Paleo. This diet is based on the diet humans would have eaten prior to the agricultural revolution. At this time, we would have had little access to dairy, grains, salt, and refined sugar, so the paleo diet focuses on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, omega-3 fats, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It is similar to keto and Atkins in that it is a low-carb diet, but it is different in that it doesn’t restrict carbohydrates as much as keto and Atkins and in fact encourages complex carbohydrates. The paleo diet is a more well-rounded diet than some in that it does not have restrictions on calories or fruit, but it does have restrictions on other foods like grains and dairy, as well as processed foods. It also has some restrictions that are difficult to achieve, such as 0mg sodium; given how much sodium is present in the American diet, even in foods that aren’t as processed, it would be incredibly difficult to consume absolutely no sodium.
The paleo diet also fundamentally disagrees with scientifically-backed nutrition recommendations like Recommended Dietary Allowances and Upper Limits, and some sources proudly flaunt that some of these numbers are exceeded. However, more is not always better with all the nutrients we need. While some vitamins will just be excreted if they are consumed in excess, others can become toxic if they are consumed in high amounts; for example, some sources claim that the paleo diet provides almost 7000 RAE of Vitamin A, but the Upper Limit of Vitamin A is only 3000 RAE, and Vitamin A toxicity is associated with a range of side effects, including abdominal pain and skin disturbances. So while it may seem impressive that the paleo diet can provide such large amounts of some nutrients, that is not always a good thing.
This lack of agreement with scientifically-backed recommendations is an issue, and many sources don’t provide people with all the information they need to make an informed decision, so even though this diet is more well-rounded than some, it should still be treated with caution.
Gluten-free. Some people need to go on gluten-free diets if they have gluten intolerances, namely Celiac disease. Some people who do this may experience some weight loss as well, although this is probably not because they’re not eating gluten, but rather because going gluten-free involves cutting out a lot of processed foods that contain gluten, and eating more whole foods rather than processed foods can result in some weight loss. However, going gluten-free is usually expensive, and it’s also often associated with decreased consumption of important nutrients like fiber and folate. Folate in particular is an important nutrient that is hard to get on a gluten-free diet; regular flour is fortified with folate, but gluten-free flour usually isn’t, and folate in other foods like vegetables is not as stable and therefore is harder to consume in substantial amounts. While it is important to go gluten-free if you have Celiac disease, it’s probably not the easiest or healthiest thing to do if you don’t have to.
Commercial diets. There are dozens of commercial diets out there that you’ve probably seen ads for, like WW, NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, Optavia, etc. These diets are, of course, usually quite expensive, and they often label certain foods as “good” or “bad,” even if incidentally. For example, on WW, dairy foods tend to have a lot of points on the point system that they use, and they encourage you to eat fewer high-point foods, because dairy usually has higher fat and lactose content than non-dairy alternatives; however, dairy is a good source of important nutrients like calcium and vitamin D, and some standards like MyPlate recommend a certain amount of dairy consumption. In general, labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” even incidentally, is an oversimplification and not productive.
There are some other issues besides the demonization of food. Some of these programs provide food to clients to eat, which may seem convenient, but always eating food that someone else has prepared doesn’t help people learn to make healthy, wholesome, satisfying food for themselves, so they end up stuck on the diet program forever. Depending on the program, some recommend dangerously low calorie intakes, which can be associated with extreme side effects and an unhealthy rate of weight loss. These programs also aren’t personalized; even those that claim that they are personalized still provide more or less the same plans to every person, which doesn’t account for each individual’s needs and situation.
All in all, these commercial diets usually have at least some problems, so they should be approached with caution as much as the other diets we’ve discussed.
Noom. One commercial diet worth talking about specifically is Noom. It is different from most of the other commercial diets out there because it focuses more on the mental aspects of food, such as responding to hunger cues, and it frames food in context of calorie and nutrient density. While these aspects can be much more beneficial than a lot of other commercial approaches, Noom still categorizes food as red, yellow, or green based on its calorie and nutrient density; red foods are more calorie dense and green are more nutrient dense. While this a more holistic approach to food than some, it still fundamentally categorizes food as “good” (green) and “bad” (red), just with different terms. Like most commercial diets, it can still be quite expensive, and it also asks clients to weigh themselves every single day, which can be mentally and emotionally unhealthy for many people. While Noom does have a more holistic approach than many commercial diets, it still has its problems and should be approached with caution.
In general. Most fad diets like keto and paleo have some sort of flaw and are not healthy for some people with certain health conditions. Many also lack scientific backing and are likely unsustainable in the long-run, and most of them are expensive, whether because they are expensive programs like Optavia or because they require people to purchase more expensive food items at the grocery store. In addition, most of these diets are not always culturally competent; for example, if the diet encourages you to eat seafood as a source of protein, but your religion prohibits seafood, it will be difficult or impossible to stick with that diet in a healthy way that also honors your beliefs and preferences. All of these diets should be approached with caution.
Why does all of this matter?
It’s clear that many diets can be problematic, but some of them can still be effective for weight loss, so are they worth a shot? Well, maybe not. First, because a lot of these diets are not sustainable, many people end up doing something called weight cycling, also known as “yo-yo dieting,” which is when people gain and lose weight over and over again. Some studies have shown that people who have weight cycled actually have higher risks of long-term complications like heart disease and high blood pressure than people who weigh more but have not weight cycled. So, repeatedly losing and gaining weight following different fad diets may do more harm than good.
Also, many health benefits can be achieved without changes in weight. For example, shifting toward more whole, less processed food and exercising in ways that make your body feel good (even if they’re not at a high intensity) can help improve cardiovascular health, even if there are no changes in overall body weight.
But most importantly, weight and BMI are just numbers that represent a very small portion of the overall picture of health. One study found that classifying Americans as healthy or unhealthy based on BMI alone would wrongly classify 75 million people, so some people who weigh more but are otherwise healthy could seek medical care that they don’t need, and some people who weigh less but may have undiagnosed medical conditions may not seek medical care that they do need. Weight and BMI are data points that are part of the overall picture of health, but they are a small part.
Is there a better approach to healthy eating than dieting?
Yes! At this practice, we follow the Intuitive Eating approach to help clients improve their relationship with food and their bodies. The whole point of Intuitive Eating is not to focus on weight or weight loss, but rather focus on listening to what makes our bodies feel good, both in terms of food and physical activity, as well as focus on accepting our bodies as they are by rejecting societal expectations that we “should” look a certain way. It also reframes food so that there are no “good” or “bad” foods, but rather encourages you to focus on foods that satisfy you and your body, as well as foods that fit your preferences and beliefs. A lot of people find this liberating because it’s not about eating particular things and avoiding others, but rather about embracing and listening to our bodies. There are several steps to Intuitive Eating, but unlike diets that are focused on cutting out different foods in certain steps or losing a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time, these steps focus on your satisfaction, peace, and mental health. If you are interested in learning more about this approach and how to apply it to your own life, feel free to schedule a discovery call with us!
If I want to focus on my health in the new year, what goals can I set that aren’t about weight loss?
There are a lot of options! In general, think about the activities that you want to be able to do and ways to achieve those things. If you want to be able to play with your kids more often, goals focused on moderate physical activity could be helpful. If you want to eat at home more often, goals focused on trying new recipes could be helpful. Some other ideas are listed below. If you think meeting with a dietitian would help you achieve your goals, again, feel free to schedule a discovery call with us!
- Improve your overall relationship with food by listening to your hunger cues and rejecting ideas about “good” and “bad” foods.
- Exercise in ways that make your body feel good. This exercise can include low intensity activities, like walking, stretching, or basic yoga, or it can include higher intensity activities, like running, playing sports, lifting weights, or advanced yoga. Don’t feel like you have to do high-intensity activities in order for it to count as exercise! Any activity is good for you, so long as it feels good. At the same time, if the high-intensity activities feel good, go for it!
- Learn to cook new things. For most of us, having more variety in our diets would be good for us, so learning to cook new things can help with that!
- Focus more on Intuitive Eating. For more information, schedule a discovery call!