The Effects Of Dieting On Mental Health

Almost everyone I have ever known has attempted dieting at least once in their lifetime. I have tried many different types of diets, some that are not very healthy, and some that worked for a while. It was very interesting to learn that up to one third of men and women in the United States is overweight, but twice as many believe that they weigh more than they should. Dieting is extremely common in people trying to lose weight and it usually relates to restricting oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight. Sometimes, this is not healthy and it can lead eating disorders and other health problems, along with many mental health issues. I think it was very beneficial for me to do this research because I can definitely …show more content…
The second factor is constant advertisements and diet industries that continue to create inventive ways to people that “this one really works”. Every single time I turn on the TV, there is an advertisement for this pill or this shake guaranteed to help you lose ten pounds in ten days, which is not healthy. And sadly, even if you do lose weight with a diet, only one in twenty people actually keep the weight off. There are many dangerous physical effects of dieting, but I am going to talk about the psychological and emotional effects. Many studies have conclude that dieting has tremendous effects on your mental health, and to some degree I have experienced this first hand. Psychologically people who are dieting became more anxious and felt depressed. People have also been known to have difficulty concentrating and some begin to withdraw from other people and became less sociable. I can definitely relate to this because many times while I am on a diet, I do not want to hang out with friends. This is for two reasons; the first is that I think they are going to try and convince me that I do not need to go on a diet. In my head, I think I …show more content…
The biggest reason is loss in motivation or willpower. This is often because of lack of results while dieting. A personal experience of mine was during the summer. I went on a strict no carb diet (which was awful because I love bread) and I was exercises very hard. The first week I lost two pounds and I was ecstatic. I worked harder than ever and stuck to my diet. The next week I gained a pound, and it was very discouraging, but I still stuck to it. After two months of working out and dieting, I only lost two pounds. It was incredibly irritating and I asked myself what was the point of all this hard work for no results. Little did I know, I was still losing inches and I was losing fat and gaining muscle. That summer taught me a valuable lesson; that the number on the scale does not determine your worth and you should focus more on how you feel then your weight. Exercising made me feel great and I had much more energy. Dieting does nothing but bring you down and it is not a healthy way to lose weight. If you want to lose weight you should eat healthy, not diet. People should get a healthy amount of calories, but with nutritious foods, not processed foods. Doing this research really opened my eyes about something I really needed help with. Diets have been proven to have a negative effect on all aspects of your life, so I am going to continue to work on weight loss in a more healthy