Eating up to go on a diet?

How many of us ‘go on a diet’ on a Monday and spend the weekend beforehand stuffing ourselves? Or perhaps binge on holiday, after having slimmed down prior to our trip?

As a child, I had to eat all of my main course before I was allowed dessert. This meant eating foods I didn't enjoy, like meat, just to get to the pudding I loved. This ingrained a powerful lesson: rewards came after enduring something unpleasant. This mindset lingered into adulthood and undoubtedly influenced my approach to dieting.

Instead of enjoying treats in moderation, I often felt compelled to eat as much as possible of the foods I enjoyed before starting a restrictive diet. The "last supper" mentality involves overeating the very foods that often contribute to weight gain, just before embarking on a diet.

The anticipation of a new diet would lead me to overindulge in foods I knew I’d have to give up. The pattern was clear: I was stuck in the feast and famine cycle. This approach not only sent mixed signals to my body but also reinforced an unhealthy relationship with food.

When we overconsume high-calorie, high-reward foods, our bodies respond by storing the excess energy as fat, exacerbating the very issue we intend to address with dieting. This pre-diet indulgence creates a metabolic imbalance, making the transition to a calorie-restricted diet more challenging. The sudden shift from overeating to restriction can lead to intense hunger, cravings, and feelings of deprivation, increasing the likelihood of breaking the diet and returning to old eating habits.

The brain's reward system becomes hyper-focused on obtaining these "forbidden" foods, making it harder to resist cravings once the diet starts. This creates a psychological battle that is difficult to win, often resulting in a cycle of guilt, overindulgence, and restrictive dieting.

Research suggests that adopting a more balanced and moderate approach to eating, where you allow yourself to enjoy treats in smaller, more frequent portions, can be more beneficial than the binge or bust cycle. This approach helps maintain a stable relationship with food, reducing the risk of overeating and subsequent guilt. Studies indicate that when people do not feel deprived, they are less likely to experience intense cravings and binge eating episodes.

My gran used to say ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’ - looks like she was right!