Why don’t diets work?
Diets don’t work because they are based on restriction and “will power”. Most of us have a part of ourselves that will eventually rebel against the deprivation created by dieting. back to top > Q: You point out that there are significant differences between substance addictions and eating addictions and that people who treat their eating disorders like alcohol addictions may fail in their determination to “kick the habit”. What are the dangers in equating the two? A: A woman who is struggling with disordered eating is addicted to the process of eating, not to the food itself. An alcoholic is addicted to the substance of alcohol. With alcoholism, the first step in the recovery process is to remove the substance and explore the underlying issues. An alcoholic remains an alcoholic because she can never again drink alcohol. It is impossible to remove food from one’s life and attempts at abstinence place too much emphasis on the food itself instead of the underlying issues that cause eating
