Happy Aloha Friday!
There are 3 things that every family likes to bring up around the dinner table . . . Religion, Politics, and Diets! And everyone thinks that they are such an expert on all three.
Like you probably know, there is no diet that has been shown to be scientifically effective long-term. Therefore, you know something that many of your relatives don’t. So, how do we navigate this diet talk? Here are some tips!
Change the subject - if someone brings up their diet, try and change the topic by asking about their job, dog, or something else that you know they have a lot to say about!
Set a boundary - ask the table if everyone can avoid diet, body and negative food talk. It is okay to set a boundary and ask your family to support your recovery.
Sit at the kids table! If the adults won’t stop talking about weight loss/dieting, go sit with the kids! Chances are that conversation will be way more interesting!
If all above fails, hit your family members with some of these statistics:
• 95% of diets fail and most will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years
• 75% of American women surveyed endorse unhealthy thoughts, feelings or behaviors related to food or their bodies
• 91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted “often” or “always”
• Almost half of American children between 1st – 3rd grade want to be thinner and half of 9 - 10 year old girls are dieting
• The “obesity industry” (commercial weight-loss programs, weight-loss drug manufacturers and bariatric surgery centers) will likely top $315 billion this year. Nearly 3% of the overall U.S. economy
• 35% of “occasional dieters” progress into pathological dieting, (disordered eating) and as many as 25%, advance to full-blown eating disorders
• At least 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder and million more are struggling with binge eating disorder
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