Our Philosophy
At Nutrition Therapy Associates, we do something that is very unusual for nutritionists. We do not promote dieting. Instead, we use a nondiet approach, also called intuitive eating. Our ultimate goals for our clients are to become intuitive eaters, and have complete freedom and peace around food and food selection, and to be free from worry about weight. These goals cannot be achieved by dieting. It took us years to understand why not since diets have been historically promoted as the ultimate solutions. Read on.
Why We Do Not Promote Dieting
We began our careers putting people on diets, as we were taught to do. It did not take long to realize that there was no magic in dieting. In fact, it became painfully obvious that dieting is fraught with failure, heartache, and deprivation. Simply put, we learned that diets cause problems, including:
- intense preoccupation with food
- powerful food cravings
- deprivation-driven eating
- compulsive eating
- eating disorders
Research is very clear that diets do not work 95% of the time. Diets cause weight gain. (Are you larger today than when you first dieted?) Most people blame themselves. Professionals even blame the dieters! Even though research proves without a doubt that diets do not work! We believe that promoting dieting is unethical.
Why Let Go Of Dieting?
If you are entertaining the thought of letting go of dieting, then you already know the answer to this question. But because society refuses to validate your experience, it is easy to slip back into old thinking. So let's go over some of the reasons it's important to let go of dieting.
Research is clear that 95% of all diets fail. You have probably experienced this, but blamed yourself. But that blame is in the wrong place. Think about it.
Dieting, counting calories or points, excluding certain foods or food groups and putting limits on when one can and cannot eat are external mechanisms which try to control the body’s weight, size and/or shape. However, our bodies are powerful and wise machines that know when they need energy (calories), when they have had enough and when they need to move.
We Are Born With The Ability To Regulate Food Intake
In fact, we are born with this innate ability towards eating and activity. Infants and toddlers know when they need to wiggle, are hungry and satisfied and respond accordingly. For example, a child will cry when she is hungry to let the caregiver know that she needs to eat. Additionally, a child will play with food or push it away when she is satisfied.
However, as we go through life there are many external influences that tell us when, how much and what to eat, some include the time of day, someone else telling us we’ve had too much or not enough, the presence of food, stress and boredom. Unfortunately, many times we end up relying on these external cues and not our own internal ones. Sometimes we grow to not trust our internal cues, as we think we know best and can control our bodies sizes and shapes through will power or restricting.
We Begin To Rely On An Outside Authority
With so many diets and information from books, the media, magazines, friends and family, it is easy to be convinced that we need a diet to be healthy and/or manage our weight. In fact, there are numerous calculations to estimate the amount of energy our bodies need, however, these are not fool proof. These calculations are rough estimates and do not account for changes in metabolism, sleep patterns, hormonal fluctuations, stress and activity levels.
It is unreasonable to think that our bodies need the same amount of energy every day. Each day we move, stress and sleep different amounts, so it makes sense that our energy needs will be constantly changing. We are not able to predict the amount of energy we need on any given day, however, if we learn to trust our body and respond to its hunger and satisfaction signals we will eat the amount of food when we need it to fulfill our energy requirements.
"Nondiet" Not A “Free For All”
Incorporating a nondiet approach to eating does not mean that it is a “free for all” when it comes to food consumption. It is far from that. By paying attention to what our bodies need, we learn what foods to eat and when to eat them. This does not mean that we ignore the nutritional aspects of eating either. As we become better aware of our internal cues, we will also become better at determining what it is we need to eat.
For example, we may find that when we routinely consume meals or snacks that are high in carbohydrate and low in protein and fat, our energy levels drop and we become tired more frequently. When we are practicing mindful eating we will notice this and consider making changes. Perhaps we try balancing our meals and snacks with carbohydrates, protein and fat, and find that we are more energized and can focus better.
Additionally, maybe we discover that when we eat many high fat foods at one time, our stomachs become uncomfortable or we get heartburn. By altering our meal to include less fat our discomfort goes away.
The Challenge Is To Listen
Our bodies are extremely smart and know what they need. Our challenge is to be able to hear what our body is telling us. As we practice mindful eating, we will become better listeners to our bodies, achieve better energy levels, become more comfortable with our selves as well as body and achieve our natural weight.