Boudicca Fox-Leonard
April 14, 2023
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When it comes to a healthy diet, experts believe a little bit of what you fancy does you good.
Clare Gray is a dietitian and chef. Having worked in acclaimed restaurants such as Spring at Somerset House in London and Chez Panisse in California, she feels passionately about helping her clients enjoy a healthy, balanced diet, which includes desserts too. “What I see so often, when people talk about healthy eating, is that the enjoyment and pleasure of food is lost,” says Gray.
You can still enjoy pasta and lose weight. William Meppem
And yet denying ourselves can lead to unhelpful behaviour and in her practice she sees many people buying low-fat, low-sugar alternatives to their favourite foods. “They say, ‘I bought the WeightWatchers version, but then I ate the whole packet.’”
“All of which results in feelings of shame around food and unattainable weight goals,” says Jordan Vyas-Lee, psychotherapist and co-founder of mental health clinic Kove. “We get lost in a range of negative emotions around food, weight and self-image.”
Over time, restrictive eating causes us to become ever more fixated on the very foods we’re trying to cut back on, and then we tend to dwell on our perceived lack of willpower.
While obesity is undoubtedly a problem, denial culture doesn’t help. Research suggests that roughly 80 per cent of people who shed a significant amount of weight don’t maintain it and, according to studies, on average dieters regain more than half of what they lose within two years.
“If you are restricting your diet, that’s just not sustainable and will often result in a blowout,” says Gray. The key to preventing it? Breaking the cycle of yo-yo dieting and allowing yourself the odd treat, which is better for our health…
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