The Importance of Pleasure (a.k.a. Why Diets Don’t Work)
By: Leah Shannon, FullWell
Too often diets are predicated on “don’ts” and depend on us to be completely inhibited for a long stretch of time. Not understanding why we have to or even worse, not knowing that we don’t have to!
Why don’t diets work?
Tell a child he can’t have something. That’s reassurance that he will want it. And ask you for it. Persistently. Until you give in. And studies show that it takes about 9 asks until the parent gives in.
This wiring does not change. Telling yourself you can’t have something is insurance that you will want it. And you can only hold off so long until you give in, and give in with a vengeance. Most of us have been there.
The only thing that gives you a stand against a child’s persistence is a successful attempt at communicating the reason behind the off-limits sign. This may take more than one “episode” but if you take a cue from your child’s persistence and become, well, persistent — then eventually, the message comes through. The message comes through because (a) at this age, you are quite an authority figure to your child J and (b) persistence often delivers proof – my child HAS experienced the natural consequence to eating cake to his content. Bellyache. Eventually, all this leads to the point where the child will self-moderate….most of the time.
While it may not be AS simple for us adults, this is half the battle. Understanding WHY you need to be mindful of what you are eating is a practice of consistency and natural consequence. True, the initial trigger may be a “diet” but if you want to sustain the results of that diet, you need to get to the root of the matter and understand why you are eating this way. And that only gets underscored by your own experience – either how awful you physically feel after you forget to “moderate” or better yet, how GREAT you feel when you do make a conscious effort to be mindful. This latter is the ideal. I think the declaration that I consistently look for with clients when I ask them why they think their cravings have greatly subsided, they typically say “I feel so great I don’t want to mess it up! I didn’t even know I could feel this way!” Of course, this is all accompanied by glowing happy faces.
And at that point, what started out as a “diet” becomes a way of life. And pleasure has been redefined. The pleasure comes from how you feel.
It is interesting to note a recent study that shows that eating junk food, while artificially delivering momentary pleasure actually contributes to depression. “The investigators reported that participants with an elevated consumption of trans-fats found in commercially produced baked goods and fast foods had up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression compared to participants who didn’t eat these foods.” So this compounded instant gratification actually leads to long term consequences.
And this brings me to my final point. You’ve heard the adage. “Moderation in everything, including moderation.” While understanding and natural consequence comprise a great part of sustaining a healthy lifestyle – we cannot discount the importance of allowing ourselves to be “bad” from time to time. This kind of “permission for pleasure” reinforces the absence of absolute restriction that pushes us to rebel against what would have been a healthful way of eating. That is, a treat from time to time is good for you. But take my word for it – the better you feel, the less frequent these cravings come and what gives you that burst of momentary pleasure changes to surprisingly more healthful choices. Really? Really. That is the beauty of it – once you feel great, the virtuous cycle begins….
Leah Lizarondo Shannon is an Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Food Educator. She founded FullWell and works with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine as a Food for Life instructor. More information at www.befullwell.com