Ditch the Diet for a Healthy Weight in Menopause

If you’ve put on weight during menopause, you might assume that dieting is the next logical step.

For decades, you’ve probably heard the message that a restrictive diet should be the way that you combat weight gain.

However, that message is quickly becoming outdated. While it’s true that nutrition is a cornerstone of midlife health, “nutrition” is not synonymous with “dieting.” The latter can pose serious health consequences that will leave you worse off than where you started.

The harms of dieting are especially relevant during midlife. Depriving yourself of food can lead to a cycle of restriction and binging that can make both your metabolism and frame of mind feel even more out of control than they already were in menopause.

There are better options than dieting. Read on, and we’ll explore them.

Diets, Diets Everywhere

Technically, a “diet” is simply the food you eat every day. Some diets can be beneficial. For example, if you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, you might be on a gluten-free diet to ease your symptoms. You might follow a vegan or vegetarian diet on the principle that it’s more environmentally sustainable.

For the most part, however, the word “diet” implies an eating plan that limits foods (and, typically, calories) to change your body size.

If you’re in midlife, you’ve probably seen (or even tried) your fair share of diets: cabbage soup in the 1960s, SlimFast in the ‘70s, Jenny Craig in the ‘80s, and Atkins in the ‘90s. More recently, we’ve seen doctrines like Paleo, Keto, Zone, South Beach, juice cleanses, and Whole-30 gain popularity.

Keep in mind that while these diets may have been developed with the intention of helping people, they are also money-makers that rely on marketing to your insecurities.

Why Are Diets So Appealing?

Diets lure us in because they promise…

• Fast results. Have you ever seen a diet that claims it’ll take years before you see results? Probably not, because that’s terrible marketing!
• Clear guidelines. In a world with endless food choices, diets can be alluring because they cut out some of the decision fatigue and tell you exactly what to eat.
• Community. Following a specific eating pattern may make you feel a sense of fellowship with others doing the same, especially if you’re involved in Facebook groups for diet support.
• Solutions to our problems. Whether it’s more energy, improved mental clarity, or greater self-confidence, diets hook us by claiming benefits beyond just weight loss.

Here’s the catch: while some of those benefits are legitimate (who doesn’t want clearer guidelines and a sense of community?), research shows that restrictive diets tend to be ineffective in the long term. In other words, people who follow strict diets tend to regain weight. Also, diets don’t boost your confidence or solve your problems.

Weight Cycling – a.k.a. “Yo-Yo Dieting”

Now, let’s explore why dieting can cause long term harm, including further weight gain. This effect, often called “weight cycling,” describes the frustrating cycle of weight loss followed by weight regain.

Here’s what happens: when you restrict calories and lose weight, your body compensates for the change. Your appetite increases and metabolism actually slows down to return your body to its pre-diet weight.

On one hand, it’s an example of the many amazing ways that our body adapts to try to keep us healthy. On the other, it’s a demoralizing and frustrating reason why people get stuck in a cycle of dieting.

While many people try to lose weight to improve their health, weight cycling poses health risks that may be larger than those if you had never lost weight in the first place. While the data are not conclusive, some studies have shown that weight cycling from dieting increases the risk of heart disease and increases inflammation in the body.

If you regain weight, it’s normal to experience feelings of failure—even though it’s clearly not within your control in the way that you may have been made to believe. These feelings of failure reverberate in how you might go on to think about your body and your health.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why eat healthily or take care of myself when nothing works?” and go on to binge on comfort foods?

A Healthier Alternative to Dieting

Intuitive eating is a well-researched approach that offers an alternative to dieting. Rather than a “diet,” intuitive eating is a framework for approaching food so that you actually eat what you need.

Instead of swinging back and forth between binge and restriction, intuitive eaters learn how to feel comfortable around food. They tend to settle at a weight that’s healthiest for them. Some research has found that middle-aged women who eat intuitively rather than restrictively have lower body mass indexes.

Intuitive eating was developed by Registered Dieticians. Its 10 principles include rejecting the failure associated with dieting, honoring your hunger and fullness, and finding ways to exercise that you actually enjoy. If intuitive eating too good to be true, keep in mind that it’s backed by a large body of scientific research.

Intuitive eating may feel scary because it’s a massive departure from what you’ve done for decades. If that’s the case, ease into it. Follow some Instagram accounts or pick up a book on the topic that explains this mindset shift.

While dieting can feel good in the short term, it frequently leads to stress and a sense of failure in the long run. Getting out of the yo-yo cycle can significantly improve your mental and physical well-being.