Why are we addicted to diets?

Fabienne Broucaret

12 May 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:07

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The initial euphoria
"When we start a diet, and it works, we are in a euphoric state. We feel stronger than oneself for achieving self-control. We are proud to silence the 'you-cant's'. We carry on feeling as if we have a superpower." But this self-control does not last forever. We break our diet, gain weight, and feel guilty. Why then do we attempt a new regime? "To relive that moment that was so short!"
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A need for reassurance
"Dieting means following a method without asking any questions and without taking responsibility," says Laurence Haurat. "We feel a sense of freedom when in fact we are restricted. Everybody has that one thing that please them."
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Everything is my fault
"When you can not lose the desired weight, or even gained after losting it, we don't question the very principle of the diet," says Ariane Grumbach. "We do not say that the method is ineffective; we feel guilty, saying 'The problem is me and my lack of will!' We are therefore convinced that the next diet will definitely work if we really want it and if we follow it religiously. There will be a decline in self-esteem as we continue dieting."
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The new diet fad
"The schemes are based on highly effective marketing strategies," says Ariane Grumbach. "The promise is alluring, especially as new methods bloom every year. One is tempted to try the diet popular among the girlfriends or touted by magazines. A kind of amnesia overrides us and we completely forget the failure of past diets, deprivation, difficulties... This time it will be good, for sure!"
Laurence Haurat says, "There is something magical in our way of thinking when diets are concerned. Diets work even better when the method is embodied by a doctor or a star, and testimonials on the Internet. It is believed by conformism and by imitation, if it worked for them, why not me?"
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The thin obsession
The pressure to attain a certain body image in our society is such that nearly two out of three women (58%) with normal weight are dieting! It's the same for 27% of men.
"The standards conveyed by — among others — the media, make an ideal of thinness," laments Ariane Grumbach."An ideal that everyone could supposedly achieve. We all have a different morphology and natural weight. We face difficulties in accepting them, just like our sizes."
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Dieting: the only way to lose weight?
"The spiral of diets is often initiated during teenage years," says Laurence Haurat. "Many of my patients have been brought up by mothers who are followers of very restrictive diets. This has shaped them and put them under enormous pressure. The voices speaking out against these diets remain a minority in the media and in medical offices. "
As recalled Ariane Grumbach, "Many people are convinced that there is no alternative to diet to lose weight. Going on a diet is not a must for weight loss, it's quite the opposite. We can do something else but it requires changing habits: listening to your hunger, coming to terms with certain foods, successfully trivializing cravings for food such as chocolate, having confidence, managing stress and emotions rather than eating."

Dietician Ariane Grumbach and psychologist Laurence Haurat explain how we got ourselves into the vicious dieting cycle.

It’s the same thing over and over again: you get into the latest method to lose weight, shouting victory in the first weeks only to crack and inevitably gain back a few kilos you had lost (and often a little bit more). Although, the failure will not stop us from starting another diet, months or years later. And we keep promising ourselves the next time won’t be the same, or will it?

A difficult spiral

The NutriNet-Health study, published in 2012, shows that almost 30% of women have followed at least five diet schemes in their lifetime, and 9% have followed over ten! Dietician Ariane Grumbach and psychologist-nutritionist Laurence Haurat explain in the slideshow above, the spiral of diets and why we are caught in it.

This spiral is not inconsequential. “Repeated diets lead to weight gain,” stresses Haurat. “Many women 45 years old and up tell me that they are desperate to go back to their weights at 18 or 20 years old, before their first diet! In addition to this yo-yo weight, self-perception also deteriorates. Food benchmarks become completely blurred, sometimes clouded with food cravings. Learning more about oneself is essential to get out of this vicious cycle. This requires self-acceptance from the shackles of societal regimes and more importantly, really start working on oneself.”

Fabienne Broucaret

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