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Diets are destined to fail you because

• Diets do not address all the factors related to food choices.
• Diets focus on the scale instead of behavior changes.
• Diets do not often include, encourage, or promote physical activity.
• iets do not require a lifestyle change.
• Diets have a beginning and an end.
• Diets create a parent/child relationship with food (being “good” or “bad” when you eat, or avoid, certain foods) that frequently leads to rebellious eating.
• Diets do not require you to change the way you think about food.
• Your body desires weight stability and will go to great lengths to maintain your current weight.

The end goal of every diet is weight loss, and in theory weight loss is simple—you have to consistently burn more calories (energy) than you consume. Unfortunately, this “simple” matter of energy balance is difficult to navigate behaviorally. Genetics, culture, social habits, motivation, and countless other factors affect whether you can lose weight and maintain the loss. Many individuals diet without considering the harm they may be inflicting on their bodies and minds or what is actually required to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of their lives. If you have been on and off diets for as long as you can remember or are considering a diet now, know this—you do not fail on a diet; the dieting process fails you.

Do you remember a time in your life when food was simply food? You ate when you were hungry, stopped when you were satisfied, and beyond food preparation and cleanup (if you were old enough), you spent relatively little time thinking about it. That is natural eating.
What if you cannot remember ever feeling this way about food? Perhaps for as long as you have known, food has been associated with everything but the messages your own body was sending. You might have been raised in an environment that did not support natural eating, one in which your access to food was overly restricted or you were required to ignore your body’s hunger or fullness signals. Or you may have fallen victim to the dieting culture so prevalent today, the one that promises that happiness is just a few more pounds away. If this is the case, don’t despair. As a human being, you were born with the ability to regulate food intake appropriately, and you can begin to uncover this ability again by working through some of the steps in the following sections.

NATURAL EATING OCCURS INDEPENDENTLY OF BODY WEIGHT
Becoming a natural eater is not a guarantee that you will change your body weight. People who maintain unnaturally thin physiques will probably gain weight as they begin to respect their bodies again. People who are maintaining excess weight due to environmental, emotional, or other conditions will probably lose weight as they incorporate the principles of natural eating. If you have ignored your body’s signals for a long time by chronically over or undereating (or going back and forth between the two), it may be more challenging to decipher appropriate hunger and fullness signals. If you believe you may be such a person, work with your physician, a counselor, and a registered dietitian to develop an eating plan and healthy lifestyle that respects this history.
The vast majority of people can experience the freedom of becoming a natural eater by working through the material in this blog and using other appropriate resources. Know that it may be a long and sometimes uncomfortable process, but the reward of a peaceful relationship with food and your body is worth every bit of effort you can afford!