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Constantly afraid of gaining weight, we are increasingly captured by obsessive thoughts about food, without even realizing it, says nutritionist Jean-Philippe Zermati. The fear of falling off takes away our strength, and in the end we only think about it … A few ideas that can alleviate the situation.
Fear of the scale, counting calories, biting with a strong sense of guilt, depression. Many of those who are obsessed with the fear of two or three extra pounds constantly monitor the contents of their plate … and as a result they eat worse and worse.
Analyzing the vicious mechanisms and sometimes dramatic consequences of this type of behavior, Jean-Philippe Zermati offers exercises that allow you to come to terms with both food and … with your own weight.
Psychologies: Do you think we are all potential victims of a serious eating disorder?
Jean-Philippe Zermati: Alas, it is. Today, most women (and men are rushing to join them) consider themselves – rightly or wrongly – fat, but they do not manage to achieve sustainable weight loss. Psychologists call this phenomenon “cognitive self-restraint” – this is an unconscious attitude that forces you to limit or try to limit yourself in food.
So our behavior is no longer regulated by sensations (hunger, taste inclinations), but is subordinated to the intellect. Our attitudes – to eat a balanced diet, drink plenty of water, do not skip meals – are determined by a variety of dogmas and ideas. To put it simply, people who limit themselves in food divide foods into two categories: those that make you fat and those that make you lose weight.
What is the main problem here?
Ignoring hunger and satiety, their preferences and dislike for a particular food, people stop perceiving these natural signals. And then nutrition becomes a problem: after all, in order to think about how to eat less or differently, you still need, paradoxically, to think about food. This occupation of consciousness by thoughts of food causes a desperate resistance to temptation. But the stronger the resistance, the more powerful the obsession with food.
However, the resources of our will are not endless, and sooner or later we lose self-control, succumb to temptation. Constantly “fighting” with food, we cease to understand what we eat: “Are there any foods that give pleasure, from which they do not get fat?”, “If I start eating it, can I stop?” In such a situation, there is no more room for spontaneous, free behavior.
What psychological consequences does this lead to?
At first everything goes fine. There is a feeling that we can control our desires. Despite the limitations, we even experience some euphoria from the fact that by all means we are regaining our “perfect body”. To become the master of your body means to gain confidence in yourself, that you are not going with the flow, that you are a strong-willed person.
But gradually the euphoria goes away, giving way to irritability and hypersensitivity, which are difficult to bear for loved ones.
“Voluntarily starving” are characterized by increased anxiety, stress and depression. If you limit yourself very strictly, this leads to attention disorders, interferes with study and work. Finally, when a person breaks down, he is haunted by a sense of shame and guilt, it undermines his self-esteem.
Are these disruptions inevitable?
Some manage to hold on for a long time – a year, ten years or even more. They build their lives around this struggle and develop strategies to avoid forbidden foods: refuse invitations to guests, convince themselves that they hate fatty and sweet …
They are sure that they have nothing to lose in this struggle, but in fact it costs them very dearly: they only do what they do to protect themselves from the desire to eat.
Test: Do you have “cognitive self-restraint” in food?
Which of the two menu options do you think makes you fatter more?
Menu 1: raw vegetables, steamed fish with carrots, fat-free yogurt.
Menu 2: tomato salad, fried fish and chocolate mousse.
You answered that the second menu harms the figure more than the first? Actually this is not true. Since the number of products is not specified, it is impossible to answer this question. Now, knowing that each menu contains 750 calories, but the first one does not contain fat and sugar, answer: which one makes you fatter more?
Correct answer: two menus are equal as long as they contain the same number of calories. Nevertheless, 90% of those who took this test stubbornly continue to consider the second menu more harmful. The remaining 10% consider them equivalent, but … for weight loss they choose the first.
Result: we get the feeling that people don’t get fat from the first menu… and so you can take supplements, thereby eating more than the original 750 calories, and not getting better at the same time.
And vice versa: since the second menu contains fat and sugar, then they will definitely get better from it, even if you limit yourself to 500 calories. Against all logic, we eventually begin to think that 1000 calories of “carrot” calories increase weight less than 500 calories of “chocolate.” If we take this argument to its logical conclusion, it turns out that a whole bowl of carrots is no more dangerous for the figure than a spoonful of this boiled vegetable, and that we will gain more weight from a piece of chocolate than from a full bowl of “dietary” carrots.
Why do they lose self-control?
Because of frustration, fear of breaking loose, fear of getting fat – these emotions push us to food. Food is a natural source of comfort. When, under the influence of anxiety or stress, a person eats a chocolate bar, he feels guilty and needs consolation even more: he greedily absorbs the desired product in order to ban it again the next day.
Can the vicious circle be broken?
Some manage to free themselves: faced with worthlessness and torment, they decide to have less control over themselves. For others, eating restrictions are accompanied by psychological problems, and then it is better to undergo a course of cognitive therapy.
By monitoring our behavior, we learn to distinguish real hunger from the desire to chew, we learn when we eat more than the body needs, but not only that. Through therapy, we can reintroduce forbidden foods into the diet, cultivate taste, recognize that some food comforts and calms us. Working with emotions can free you from the endless struggle with kilograms.
But how will we lose weight if we stop controlling ourselves?
Nutritionists have calculated that an excess of a person’s energy needs by 25 calories per day (that’s one piece of sugar) in 10 years will turn into 9 kg of weight. But we all know people who do not get better every ten years by nine kilograms. What is their secret? They are guided by their food sensations.
By listening to them, you too can feel your normal weight again. Maybe this is not the weight that doctors require from you, and it certainly will not coincide with the ideal of glossy magazines. However, this will be your normal, physiologically and genetically predetermined weight and should be accepted.
Exercise: Overcome Prejudice!
To help us “make peace” with forbidden foods (cakes, chocolate, chips…), Jean-Philippe Zermati suggests doing a substitution exercise.
On average, for one regular meal, we get 750 calories. A bar of chocolate (100 g) gives us 500 calories. So:
- Skip your usual lunch for four days.
- Replace it with chocolate (from half to a whole bar, which corresponds to 250-500 calories).
- Enjoy your chocolate calmly and slowly, trying to stop when you feel full.
- If you feel hungry in the afternoon, snack on something of your choice and try to stop when you feel full.
- Remember to weigh yourself on the first and fifth days of this exercise.
Replacing lunch with (favorite) chocolate means “subtracting” a minimum of 250 calories. No, therefore, no risk of gaining weight.
And you will see that there is nothing wrong with eating a chocolate bar for four days in a row! At the end of this experiment, stand on the scales and see for yourself: chocolate as such, even if you eat it a bar a day, does not make us get better. Maybe you even lost weight? And this despite the fact that you did not suffer from hunger at all.
About expert
Jean-Philippe Zermati French nutritionist and psychotherapist. Like other colleagues, he prescribed all sorts of diets to patients over the years. In the end, disappointed in the results, he received a psychotherapeutic education and radically changed his approach to the problem.