When we decrease our caloric intake we may have an initial period of weight loss, and then our metabolism slows down causing dieters to hit a plateau in their weight loss efforts. Eventually, this blunted metabolism causes people to regain weight. Additionally, when we are experiencing caloric deprivation our body increases ghrelin secretin, which is our hunger hormone. Even modest caloric deprivation will cause individuals to feel hungry and hyper-fixate on food, especially those foods that are forbidden, making diets nearly impossible to stay on.

In addition to diets promoting long-term weight gain, they have also been linked to pronounced depression, emotional distress, mood swings, irritability, a reduction in self-discipline, and loss of control around food. Because diets often have an initial weight loss period, people often return to diets after regaining weight back. This contributes to weight cycling. Weight cycling is associated with a higher risk of binge eating, higher mortality, higher risk of osteoporotic fractures, loss of muscle tissue, chronic inflammation, diabetes and more. 

Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach where the goal is not to lose weight but honor your health and the body’s needs. There are 10 principles, some of which include honoring hunger and respecting fullness, coping with feelings without using food, respecting your body, and finding forms of movement that feel good. 

Intuitive eating may cause weight changes, but weight change is not the goal. In the long term, intuitive eating is associated with weight maintenance rather than weight cycling, improved body satisfaction, decreased prevalence of depression, protection against overly restrictive diet messages, decreased eating disorder behaviors and more healthful nutrition choices. It may also promote improved results in cholesterol and blood pressure.