Weight loss does not equal a shortened lifespan: Reflecting on why dieting is ineffective and the emotional roots of obesity.

Losing weight doesn't mean shortening your lifespan. The word "dieting" itself means restricting food intake, but when applied to weight loss, it no longer means restricting eating, but often deprives people of normal nutritional intake. In some cases, there might be immediate results (especially when losing water weight), but in the long run, the weight will come back (and it will be heavier). Ultimately, if you completely deprive yourself of the right to eat the foods you love, what joy is left in your life? Are you savoring the various wonderful flavors that food brings? We don't live to starve ourselves, but to nourish ourselves. We should enjoy the aroma, texture, and taste of food, and appreciate the diversity of different cultures within it. Life is a feast.

Why dieting doesn't work. Dieting is ineffective. A typical human experiment shows that when people are forced to diet, they exhibit symptoms such as depression, irritability, and lack of patience. Once they are allowed to eat again, the compensatory psychology caused by deprivation makes them prone to overeating. The human mind has its own characteristics, and ultimately, one must abandon the diet plan to find their true self or restore "homeostasis." "Dieting" ultimately leads to overeating. We begin to focus excessively on the foods we cannot eat, constantly saying, "I want to eat that, but I can't." In the end, we crave that food more and more because we feel our rights have been severely deprived. When we suddenly allow ourselves to eat that "forbidden" food, we usually begin to indulge because it is so special to us. It tastes so good that we unconsciously stuff ourselves until we are full, and then we are back to where we started.

Don't punish yourself because you haven't done anything wrong. Stop feeling guilty about eating certain foods. We can choose to eat appropriate amounts and truly savor and enjoy them. We can find a good balance between respecting ourselves and respecting our choices. The real issue behind obesity. Most people view weight issues from a physical perspective. But what's truly relevant is the reality hidden behind the weight "imbalance" in today's society. Food consumption is actually a byproduct of our internal activities. In other words, it's about what happens "inside" (like our habits and emotions), not "outside." If someone only looks at weight issues from a food-centric perspective, they won't find the real root of the problem, and the excess weight is very likely to come back.

Furthermore, weight loss from the outside in is very mechanical. When weight loss is just about counting calories and calculating calories, it's all just numbers. However, people are not made up of numbers. People have emotions, hearts, and souls. It's time to stop searching for solutions in the wrong places-calories, proportion tables, diet foods, or deceptive tricks-because the solution to weight problems cannot be found outside of ourselves. Powerful canned diet foods may provide quick and satisfying results in the early stages of weight loss. However, once you stop using these canned foods, your body will easily return to its original state. After all, dieters don't choose their own food, so they can't find a long-term way to balance their weight. Once you stop using this particular diet food, it's difficult to maintain the weight loss. Emotional eating habits that existed before can easily return.

Don't try miracle pills or trendy diets. Some advertisements claim that a certain "miracle" diet pill can easily give you a stunning figure. This sounds tempting, but it doesn't solve any fundamental problems, and these drugs can cause permanent physical damage, such as heart damage. Ultimately, diet pills are neither a healthy nor a permanent solution. Even when we look at weight issues from a physical perspective, dieting doesn't work. Most popular diets completely eliminate certain food groups (which is highly unscientific) and require us to give up our favorite foods.