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"In the final analysis, dieting is a thief. It robs you of your time, your energy, your health, your money and your well-being." ARE YOU EXHAUSTED?
You know that diets don't work. You're exhausted from the merry-go-round of starving, fasting, counting carbs and calories, and then gaining the weight back. But you can't quit. Why? The primary reason, of course, is that you want to achieve a healthy, attractive weight-and right now you think that dieting is the only way to reach that goal. And you are certainly not alone with this view. Eating Disorders specialists have coined an important term, called "normative discontent". What does this term mean? It means that in our society, it's normal, particularly if you're female, to be unhappy with your body, and disturbed in your relationship with food. Magazines, television, and movies teach us that the only beautiful body is one that's nearly impossible for anyone to achieve. As a result, millions of beautiful women think they're unacceptable simply because they're bigger than a size six-and these women become trapped in a never-ending cycle of dieting and starvation that ironically leads to weight gain or eating disorders. Increasingly, men too are exhibiting normative discontent, as the "ideal" male body becomes ever more unrealistic. To become truly fit and attractive, you need to recognize the signs that you are caught in this trap, and begin to take this problem more seriously, realizing the price you are paying in being unable to enjoy life to its fullest. Once you begin to re-think the question of whether dieting is an effective tool for you in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, and reject the cultural stereotypes that make you think that you're not beautiful unless you look like a super-model, you'll be on the path toward physical AND mental fitness. You CAN be attractive and happy with your body-and the first step is to strive for a weight that's healthy and attractive for you, rather than making it your goal to be a carbon-copy of the current celebrity. When you do, you'll start working with your body rather than against it, and you'll be a big step closer to safe, sane, permanent weight loss. To begin to notice the impact that dieting and cultural pressures to pursue unrealistic beauty standards are having on your life, take the "Are You Exhausted" quiz. Click on the following link and answer the questions with a "yes" or "no". Choose "yes" if the question sounds like you most of the time-that is, greater than 50% of the time. Take the "Are You Exhausted Quiz" |
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