It’s no wonder that so
many people feel such
shame, guilt and fear
around their bodies…
we’re afraid that if we
look a certain way, it
means certain things
about our health.
Here’s the thing,
though… all this focus
on weight as a marker
of health… how often
do we actually hear
about how to practi-
cally use it as a marker
for health? Or what
other markers there
are? Or how we can
get a more complete,
holistic picture of our
health?
We don’t hear about
those things because
they’re not as sellable.
As a population, when
we’re insecure and
vulnerable, we’re easier
to sell to.
If all of us woke up
tomorrow and decided
to better understand
our health by check-
ing our cholesterol,
blood pressure, under-
standing our genetics,
looking at our life-
styles, understanding
our psychology, taking
stool samples, learning
about reproductive
health… the com-
panies at the top of
that $64 billion a year
industry would topple.
page 10
A conscious and ed-
ucated population is
bad for business.
pretty and marketable
with a, “Now I’m hot
too and can finally
get a date!” tagline to
Here’s the thing, though…
all this focus on weight as a
marker of health… how often
do we actually hear about how
to practically use it as a mark-
er for health? Or what other
markers there are? Or how we
can get a more complete, ho-
listic picture of our health?
But, to keep us small
(figuratively, whilst
selling us the idea
literally in the form of
weight loss) is to keep
us easily marketable.
The truth that the diet
industry doesn’t want
you to know: 95% of
diets don’t work for
people. The 5% that do
work, aren’t proven to
work in the long term
(and by long term, I
mean past 3-4 years
after the time of weight
loss).
Even Weight Watch-
ers themselves con-
firm these figures in
shady speak and spin
to dance around the
truth.
Because the truth isn’t
make people feel bad.
This is how so many
become trapped in the
narrative of believing
that if only they were
smaller, they’d be able
to finally feel better,
be healthier and live
longer, eat more nor-
mally, be happier, find
a relationship etc.
What they’re not see-
ing is that all of those
things, including being
healthier, are accessi-
ble to them without
their weight changing
at all.
That is true, weight
loss is possible for
most people… but
there’s a catch. And it’s
that weight loss is usu-
ally only sustainable
in the short term - and
when the weight re-
turns, it usually comes
with more than when
you started with.
If you believe that less
weight is good and
more weight is bad,
the return to your
original weight plus
more is likely to make
you feel pretty dang
awful… and thus, back
to diets you go. The
cycle continues.
This is because after
a body loses a certain
amount of weight, the
body tries to compen-
sate to restore us to
our “set point weight”,
a range of 5-15kg
where an individual’s
body feels the happiest
and can settle with
ease. Note, too, that
set point weights can
change with time. And
years of yo-yo dieting
and the resulting bodi-
ly confusion usually
increase the weight
that your body wants
to be at.
When you are engaged
in dieting/engaging
in behaviours aimed
specifically at reduc-
ing your mass, your
brain (specifically the
hypothalamus and its
associated hormones)
makes you notice food
more often (even in-