Or does saying “increases the body’s water needs” mean they technically haven’t come out and said “you need to drink more water to make up for these drinks”? Because your colon (yay colon!) changes the amount of water it absorbs based on what you need, meaning that unless you’re drinking massive amounts of cola, or your pancreas is not producing adequate insulin, or unless said cola gives you explosive diarrhea (and apparently it does, for some people), this increased water need is probably subtle enough that it’s balanced out within your GI tract, and doesn’t require the renin-angiotensin system to kick in and make you thirstier. It might be merely a function of osmosis, depending on your blood’s absorption of sugar molecules (though this review suggests otherwise.) Or something. I don’t know. I’m still half asleep.

Another article with a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition, that pretends that macronutrients aren’t nutrients. The info about sodas increasing one’s water needs is useful, but why couldn’t they write, “they supply only water and sugar (and most Americans get plenty of sugar)” instead? (Oh, and of course the title of that section is “Don’t Get Fat on Drinks”.)

I just want to add that there are of course lots of reasons why I and other people shouldn’t diet, also including – in my case – not being fat in the first place. I was 141 lbs (at 5’4) at my heaviest, for crying out loud. But my eating _and_ thinking were so disordered that I needed that WTF-moment as a sort of lever, a temporary permission not to diet, so that I could regain some strength and peace of mind. And with that strength and peace of mind, I lost the urge to once more torture myself down to 112 lbs.

First of all, thank you for your excellent work, Michelle! I greatly appreciate

After a decade of disordered eating and bouts of severe clinical depression, I got so depressed that I was constantly considering suicide. Now, this last and most severe depression came upon me after almost two years of starving and exercising obsessively (and secretely). Urged by my family, who suspected that I was suicidal, I finally found a therapist that I could actually trust. I think I fell for her the minute she, upon hearing me complain about not being able to get out of bed in the morning because I felt so horrible, responded: “Why do you have to get up if you are unable to? Should a person with a physical injury making getting up impossible also get out of bed?” Something went click in my head at that point, and I kept having sessions with this amazing therapist on a weekly basis.

However, food per se turned out not to be central issue in the course of my therapy. I slowly unravelled so many past instances of my boundaries not being respected, of not being allowed to express my feelings, etc. I was overwhelmed by the pain I had tried – and managed – to suppress for so long. The therapy was immensely demanding, and I slowly realized that I had to spend my energy on my sessions, rather than on my expanding waist. (Assuredly, for a long time I nourished a “secret” plan to go back to dieting once my inner wounds had healed.) Somewhere along the process however, food and weight just started to be non-issues, in a positive way. It was like something in me went all Caps Lock and told me WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DIETING IF I DO NOT HAVE THE ENERGY TO DIET?!, and then I went more or less straight to structured eating, intuitively, without knowing about FA or HAES.

Now I’ve been eating structuredly for about three years. I didn’t know life could be like this. Bacon? I want it? I can has it! Cauliflower? I crave it? I can has it! I have not gained weight (lest we count the weight i regained, having lost it dieting myself suicidal and prone to viral infections). I have gained health, life quality and optimism. I have not been depressed either.

Sure, many things in my life, other than my approach to eating, have improved, adding to my overall well-being. But still. I think that that WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DIETING IF I DO NOT HAVE THE ENERGY TO DIET?!-moment should not be underestimated.

Thank you ! From now I’ll try to live smarter

Yes, it is. And willpower really has nothing to do with how you eat or what size your body is. I don’t know how we got so mixed up as a culture, but here we are.

And maybe even you are thinking now that I’m a silly , weak teen…

Not at all. You’re struggling with exactly the same thing so many people struggle with for their entire lives. It’s a good thing you’re beginning to question it relatively early on.

I find no joy in my life anymore…….It’s not like only food makes me happy, but it certainly plays a big role. I have a pretty big appetite too……….what do you think I should do ?

Oh my dear. If you find no joy in life anymore, it’s either something you need to get help for (like from a therapist), or something you can address by putting joy back into your life. If you’ve stopped doing things you enjoy (because of your weight, or because dieting took up all of your time and energy) try doing them again.

Food makes everyone happy. There is a reason for this — if food didn’t make us happy, we wouldn’t go to all the trouble to procure and prepare and eat it, which means we never would have survived as a species. Food is a natural reward, and we not only get physical pleasure from it, but emotional pleasure too. This is as it should be — it doesn’t mean you’re a weak person or have anything wrong with you.

Stopping a diet and trying to eat normally again is HARD. It can be an uphill battle, given the culture we live in that will give you diet tips and tell you to lose weight at every turn. But you have to create a protective bubble for yourself. Surround yourself with supportive friends who don’t focus too much on weight. If you need to, ask your family not to discuss weight issues around you. Start reading blogs and books about body image, self acceptance, and health at every size. (You can do this by clicking on the “Notes from the Fatosphere” link on the right-hand sidebar, and by going to http://www.gurze.com and looking at some of the books there.)

I am in the early stages of developing an online class that will help people like you learn to eat normally, and it should be relatively cheap. Hang around here and talk to people — we’ve all been through similar stuff, and some of us have even found our way out.

I wasn’t fat as a child, I was always okay, when the doctors saw me they always said : ” This is a healthy child “. But the time passed and in only 1 year I became plump ( not obese ! just plump ) And from that moment the chaos started. I tried to cut off all the sweet things and bread, potatoes, pasta too, then I followed 100 diet tips , then I went on Atkins………I must admit that in the last 3 days I’ve been searching for a post like yours. I mean, there are people who weren’t made for a diet ! And this doesn’t mean that we will be the future obese generation. Dieting and trying to eat only HEALTHY foods was and IS incredibly painful for me ( because I’m still on Atkins, I’m just planning to quit it ). What value has a life full of inside conflicts ? Fighting with enemies, fighting to get a job, a house, a partner, these are OTHER TYPE of fights, but fighting with your own traits is terrible ( like for example fighting with your appetite )

Many people said I don’t have willpower, but I have willpower ONLY if I’m able to stick to healthy foods and dieting ? I mean , life isn’t sth MORE than this ?
And maybe even you are thinking now that I’m a silly , weak teen, but I’m not ! I fought very much, I really did, but I find no joy in my life anymore…….It’s not like only food makes me happy, but it certainly plays a big role. I have a pretty big appetite too……….what do you think I should do ? Please don’t give me diet-style tips, just say your honest opinion because I really put my faith in you……sorry if I wrote this confusing, but I’m very sick and tired with all this and I want to find a solution because I endured enough !!!! ( this is what I’m feeling right now

For years I’ve felt like a lone voice in the wilderness, because at work I am surrounded by what I call the Skinny Women On Diets brigade who talk about food in terms of morality. And I keep saying to them, “No, listen. Lying is a sin. Malicious gossip is a sin. Eating a chocolate biscuit is not a sin. It may be an inadvisable thing to do if you’re already full, but there’s nothing wicked about it.” It falls on deaf ears, and I even sometimes get implied criticism for obviously enjoying something chocolatey (despite the fact that I’m 5’7″ and have a 27″ waist!).

I eat what I like. All the time. Mostly, what I like is fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Sometimes, what I like is stuff involving chocolate (I’m not too interested in other sweet things). I also like salty things, to the extent that I tend to consider the Government guideline on salt to be a useful minimum rather than a prescribed maximum. This is a clear case of my body being sensible, because I have chronically low blood pressure, and if I don’t get enough salt I will get dizzy spells. (Insert rant here about one-size-fits-all health advice – I won’t take over your blog, but I will just say there is far too much of it about.)

Our Head of Section at work eats eye-popping amounts of chocolate. He’s also as thin as a pencil. I once tried to give a reality check to someone who fulminated about what a Terrible Thing it was that he ate all that chocolate; I asked her how thin she thought he’d be if he didn’t eat it. “Oh, well,” she countered, “it must be bad for his health!”

Le sigh.

Thank you so much for providing a sane, rational, and above all compassionate counterweight to all that sort of stuff.