[lackadaisy]

I just read a fantastic and thought-provoking article on AlterNet -- by Judith Matz, L.C.S.W., director of the Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating.

Link here: http://www.alternet.org/health/14970...to_do_about_it

It's a long article that makes a number of great arguments in different areas -- that dieting can cause "disinhibition," leading to binging later; that people have genetically-inherited 'set points' and will gravitate toward those weights, and not all those set points are at a size 2; that the obesity-causes-death statistics are based on shoddy research and overblown; that exercise and health habits (avoiding smoking, getting enough sleep, eating enough of the right nutrients) matters more than weight. It's well worth reading.

But this passage on an experiment done on dieters and non-dieters was especially shocking (Janet Polivy & Peter Herman, University of Toronto, 1999). The subjects were fed 0, 1, or 2 milkshakes and then asked to compare ice cream flavors; researchers allowed them to eat as much ice cream as they wanted and secretly measured how much they'd eaten.

The results revealed that the nondieters ate as you might expect: those who hadn't consumed any milkshakes ate the most ice cream, those who'd consumed one milkshake ate less ice cream, and those who'd consumed two milkshakes ate the least. The dieters, by contrast, reacted in the opposite way. Those who were offered no milkshakes before the taste test ate small amounts of ice cream, those who drank one shake ate more ice cream, and those who'd consumed two milkshakes ate the most ice cream!

The researchers termed what had happened to the dieters "disinhibition," which occurs as a result of a "diet-mentality."... a milkshake preload disinhibits a dieter's usually inhibited or restrained eating, almost like a switch: "I've blown it anyway, so I might as well keep eating before I go back on my diet." This is an almost irresistible incentive to go on eating well past physical fullness.

Reading this article was really inspiring for me: it was a reminder to not beat myself up so much about my cravings, but indulge them reasonably and be aware of fullness; it was a reminder that health is the goal and weight management only one part; and it was a kick in the pants to exercise much more. I'm young, so this is only my second time trying to lose weight in any way, and I'm hoping to never 'yo-yo' again.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

[NoMakeSense]

Good article, particularly because of the emphasis on improving fitness rather than losing weight.