Some Thoughts on Weight Watchers [From your Disordered Eating Therapist]
It’s January 2021!! We all survived 2020 and many of us are going into the New Year by setting goals as well as implementing new habits and changes.
One of the most common New Year’s goals is weight loss. Have you ever noticed that every year thousands of people begin some sort of diet or weight loss plan in January only to do it again the next January? Despite all the hard work and commitment that goes into these efforts why do we keep doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome? (This is the literal definition of insanity.)
What if there could be something different? What if you didn’t have to deprive yourself, beat yourself up, restrict all kinds of foods you love, or just keep worrying about this weight thing? Well, there is a way! But first, let’s talk about a few things regarding diets like weight watchers or any other weight loss plan you might be considering this year.
Weight Watchers has been around forever. It’s like the gold standard in dieting. Most people have tried it and probably lost weight on it at some point or another and most people even go back to it again when that urge to lose weight comes up. There are a few things from an eating disorder therapist perspective I thought would be helpful to point out regarding this program and others that are similar.
It can cause us to eat more.
You know what I’m talking about. That moment where we make that commitment to lose weight and find the plan and then a few days or weeks later we mess it all up and eat the whole pantry. Biologically when we limit the amount we can eat a primal hunger part of our brain turns on to at some point tell us to eat everything in sight. Our brain is first and foremost trying to keep us alive.
Our body does not know the difference between a famine and a diet. Your body will think it is in a famine and at some point probably trigger you a week or month into the plan to EAT ALL THE THINGS because it is planning for a famine. Then we are frequently overeating and feeling out of control and even WORSE about ourselves.
You might be thinking ”I thought this whole diet thing was supposed to make me feel better.”
It’s stressful.
It’s stressful that a Reese cup is 5 points. (These are my personal fav and I eat one most days). It’s stressful when you get to the end of the day and you have 2 points left and you were really wanting to enjoy pizza with your husband and kids. It’s stressful to be counting all the points and keeping track of all these things. (Most of the time I have a difficult time keeping track of all the things I need to get done!) This is complicated. Life is already super complicated without having to add in all this stress and complexity about food.
You might be thinking, “I just ate all my points for the day and it’s only 10:00 in the morning.”
It overrides your ability to focus on your own hunger, fullness, and satiety.
Whether it’s weight watchers, keto or noom we are looking to a program to tell us what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat. This makes it extremely difficult to focus on your own hunger, fullness, and satiety cues. These cues are everything in telling us how much our body needs, what our body needs and what would taste good. Our body has these incredible built-in mechanisms that can help us feel good in our bodies and not out of control with food.
You might be thinking, “I don’t really know when I am hungry or full I just eat the number of points I get in a day.” Or, “I don’t really know what foods would be really satisfying for me.”
It encourages disordered eating.
Disordered eating can look like skipping meals, eliminating certain foods or food groups for a long period of time, not eating enough at a meal or throughout the day. Whenever a diet or plan is implemented it is creating a somewhat disordered relationship with food. Whether that’s seeing yourself as addicted to foods, unable to control yourself around foods, or eliminating certain food groups for the sake of health. This negative relationship with your body and food is likely impacting your body image, relationships, physical health, and your relationship with food.
You might be thinking, “I thought if I just cut out sugar I would lose weight and solve all my health issues.”
It focuses on food/weight as the primary component of health.
I did notice on the WW website they are incorporating more sleep habits, exercise, and mindfulness which is good, but at the end of the day like with all weight loss plans it is focused on primarily what you are eating. Food and weight are one small part of health and more and more research is showing we can be healthy at any size. Health is movement, sleep, stress management, relationships, water, and life satisfaction.
You might be thinking, “My health is important to me, so why can’t I stick to these changes?”
It sucks.
Food and eating should be fun. Eating is social, emotional, and physical. Paying attention to the food we eat is important. If you are reading this it is likely health is an important value for you. If you are trying to make changes to your eating and exercise habits from a place of disgust towards yourself or your body it probably won’t work.
We can’t make positive changes in our life from a place of negativity. We can create a healthy relationship with food without deprivation, restriction or self-loathing. If you have been at this dieting thing or weight loss gig for a long time - it might be time to let it go and try something new.
Intuitive eating might be a fantastic fit for you. Intuitive eating provides eaters with 10 principles to guide you on tuning into your body and relationship with food from non-diet. No restriction. No set meal plan. Only your brain and your body working together to figure it all out so you don’t have to keep going insane.
If you want to learn more about how Encounter Counseling can help you with intuitive eating, body image, disordered eating, and more please reach out!
I hope your year is filled with love, happiness, and delicious food without guilt.
Love,
Chelsea
Encounter Counseling offers in-person counseling in Grand Junction and online counseling state-wide in Colorado including Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs.