No to diets

Notodiets is a new blog about eating disorders which I found out about recently. Its creator, Leanne, wrote to me about her experiences and explained why she decided to start the blog:

"Well, it’s about time I started my own blog I thought – having no idea about how to set one up. None the less, off I went on a rather steep ‘blogging’ learning curve and have produced my first ever blog!

Obviously anyone setting up a blog needs to have a focus, a passion for example. Well, this bit of the process is easy for me because I am absolutely, emphatically passionate about raising awareness that ‘diets don’t work’!

I suffered from Bulimia for 15 years mainly through my late teens and twenties. During this time I didn’t talk to anyone about it – which I now really wish I had. I also wish I knew then what I now know about diets!

As a teenager I overate a lot and consequently I gained a lot of weight, not only did this bring taunts from my peers but my self confidence was severely affected. I turned to diets, the type of commercial diets we see advertised everywhere and all the time today.

They maybe worked for a little while then I would give up (which of course is what the dieting industry want us to do, so that we go back for more! It’s all about money). The weight would then go back on and plus some!

I then turned to Bulimia with the false hope that not only would I lose weight but everything would seem ‘better’. But, it wasn’t – I lost and gained, lost and mostly gained in a damaging cycle that dangerously affected my physical and mental health. I became so scared of the impact Bulimia was having on my physical health, I managed to begin recovery 4 years ago and have been Bulimia free for those 4 years.

I have always had a sense that something is not quite ‘right’ with the dieting industry and its approach to weight loss. I wondered more about why we eat the way we eat for example, but this was rarely talked about. This is what started my interest in eating disorders and I began working professionally with people suffering from eating disorders in late 2007.

It has been my own struggle with weight, others’ stories and the government’s drive to ‘tackle obesity’ that has prompted me to begin research into other, alternative ways to weight loss and becoming a healthier person for the individual. This search has taken me into a world of like minded people including renowned professionals conducting research into this area. The basic assertion is that ‘diets don’t work’ and that overeating / compulsive eating is linked to our emotions and therefore a psychological approach is important when attempting to lose and maintain weigh loss.

However, there is much more work that needs to be done in raising this awareness to the government, policy makers, the diet industry and the general public and I hope that my blog, and campaigning amongst all the many other people fighting for this recognition, might help to raise this awareness.

I really hope you enjoy reading the blog – I will be regularly updating it with posts, book reviews, articles, links and discussions.

Please comment / email me via my blog and share with others to help raise awareness."