Thread by @thefatdoctoruk

It's time for your annual reminder that going on a diet come January 1st is one of the worst thing you could do for your health. 95% of you will gain back any weight that you lose and 2/3 will end up heavier but THAT IS NOT THE POINT 🧵

Consuming less energy (calories) than you need has a profound effect on the body. To begin with, you will start turning fat into energy, which is the whole point, right? Along with the fat you will also consume your own muscle which isn't ideal but supposedly it's worth it.

But after a VERY SHORT period of time your body starts to panic. It can handle starvation (that's another word for calorie deficit) for a few days but not long term. So it does what it has to do to keep you from wasting away (literally, your muscles are actually wasting)

Your body is not above taking drastic measures. It diverts energy from less vital organs (skin, hair, GI tract). It rations the amount of energy your brain receives. It alters (permanently in some cases) your basal metabolic rate.

That translates into fatigue, low mood, irritability, difficulty concentrating, hair loss, skin and nail changes, GI symptoms. Oh, and the weight loss slows down. The so-called plateau phase. Many of you are gonna hit that sometime end of Jan/mid Feb.

But starvation (calorie deficit) doesn't just impact you physically. It impacts you mentally, emotionally, socially and financially. And HEALTH is not just physical. Its all of these things. Starvation leads to depression. To eating disorders. To social withdrawal.

And starvation is *not sustainable*. Just like your body won't let you hold your breath under water forever, nor will it let you starve yourself. Have you ever tried diving to the bottom of a pool and staying there as long as possible? Eventually your body breaks for the surface.

No matter how much you will your body to stay under water, survival instincts are hardwired into our DNA. The only way to stay at the bottom of the pool is to weigh yourself down with something. Remember that next time you meet someone who managed to "keep the weight off".

For those smug experts who tell people "That's because you're doing it wrong. Calorie deficits don't work, instead you should try [insert BS here]" - SHUT UP. Seriously, just shut up. And maybe take a basic psychology class.

What's the best way to make someone crave something? Simple. Tell them they can't have it. Even if they say no 99 times out of 100, that 1 time is inevitable. And eventually 1 becomes 2. Which becomes 4. And so on. *Binging* is almost universally caused by *restricting*. Fact.

Don't like the feeling of being out of control around food? Wish you weren't thinking about it all the time? THEN STOP RESTRICTING. It really is that easy. It probably won't produce weight loss, but it *will* improve your health. There are hundreds of studies to prove this.

Finally, just a reminder that January 1st is to the weight loss industry what valentine's day is to Hallmark. A convenient way to make you part with your cash whilst simultaneously making you feel shit about yourself. Don't be a sucker. #DitchTheDiet in 2023