Yoyo dieting, laxative abuse, bingeing, purging, and restrictive eating do not promote weight loss. They carry a certain type of alluring appeal because they involve control and power, and often attention or praise. They may temporarily work to shed some body weight, and so they become addictive. The trouble is that they slow down metabolism and lead to increased tendency towards fat storage.

Dieting usually involves cutting out fat and calories and consuming less food less often. This creates insulin spikes and hypoglycemic phases, increased sensations of hunger, insulin resistance and slowed metabolism, which all lead to fat storage.

Any weight that is lost as a result of restricting diets and dieting behaviours is mostly loss due to loosing muscle mass. Then when fat is stored for the reasons above, the body has essentially replaced the muscle with fat. A lower percent of muscle and a higher percent of fat means that the overall composition of your body’s tissues has changed. When body composition shifts away from muscle and towards fat it is increasingly hard to loose weight because muscles use up and burn our calories, whereas fat does not. This shift in composition means a slower metabolism.

These patterns of eating teach the body over time to store calories as fat for the next time it is restricted or deprived. Essentially it is completely counterproductive to weight loss goals.

Looking good and feeling good has to do with listening to your body and making food choices that will promote a healthy, lean and muscular body. Most people experience feelings of depression and sadness when they are calorie restricting because the building blocks for brain molecules, called neurotransmitters, needed for emotional wellness are not being provided through diet.

People usually do not feel good overall while dieting even if they manage to lose some weight.

There is a way to attain your body composition goals while feeling great. It involves healing your body’s metabolism, clearing out toxins and heavy metals, and step by step providing all the building blocks to let your body let go of extra weight. Learning to eat foods with lots of vitamins and minerals and adequate calories will teach your body that it can let go of excess weight and that there is no need to store calories for periods of starvation and restriction. The body will be nourished and it will begin to speak through cues. Listening to what it needs and wants is the key.

We are not meant to be in a battle against our bodies. In fact, our bodies want to be the best they can be -healthy beautiful, radiant, strong. Our bodies are our refuge and they have within them all the information we need to live a full and amazing life.

Our metabolism is what allows for the perfect body composition for each body. Metabolic healing means going through all the steps to reboot the metabolism. It means letting go of the struggles, and focusing on nutrition to build up strength, emotional stability, mental clarity and vital energy. It means letting go of jumping on and off of diet plans. It involves cultivating a new gentleness towards yourself and trusting in the process.