Yo-Yo Dieting and Disordered Eating Recovery

What is Non-Dieting?

Non-dieting is both a philosophy and a therapy. The non-dieting philosophy offers an alternative way of thinking, feeling, and being for people who have been misled by diet culture into disordered eating patterns and body image struggles. The therapy aspect is a mix of health-focused psychotherapy, neurofeedback brainwave training, and community support.
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Overall, our therapeutic method fosters healing of the dieter’s shame-based mindset, over-sensitized stress response, disordered eating patterns, and body image struggles. Our goal is to free dieters from the mental cage of diet dogma, so that they can reclaim health, return to a joyful relationship with their bodies and food, and live a more authentic and meaningful life.

Non-dieting is for you if you relate to any of these statements --
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• Your relationship with food and your body has become a source of pain.
• You feel stuck in cycles of restricting food and overeating, or other disordered eating patterns.
• Your weight is unstable and fluctuating.
• Your sense of worth is tied to the scale.
• You wonder and obsessively worry about how you look.
• You are experiencing health problems related to the stressful dieting lifestyle.
• You are tired of living this way.

Dieting is about as good for your health as smoking cigarettes and drunk driving.
- Alison Ross, LMFT

Non-dieting will help you to --

Shift into a healthy mindset

• Awaken to how social and cultural influences, including diet culture, have affected your mindset about food, your body, and your worth. 
• Challenge mindsets and beliefs that keep you in disordered eating and body image struggles (such as diet dogma). For example, reflecting on your diet history, you might realize that your net weight loss has been small and costly compared to the effort and sacrifice you have made. You may have sacrificed your health, your sense of worth, inner peace, and a fulfilling relationship with food and people.
• Break free of diet dogma that ties your sense of worth to your weight and overestimates the impact your body type has on relational, career, and life success, as well as happiness.  
• Connect to a community of supportive others who can help you navigate a tricky food and diet culture without internalizing its unhealthy messages.  

Heal from physiological, mental and behavioral dysfunction caused by the stressful dieting lifestyle.
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• Clear your body of the toxic shame and fear that distorts your body image and triggers a hungry brain.
• Settle your hungry brain with neurofeedback training to help regulate your appetite, support healthier eating patterns, and develop a positive body image.
• Release rigid control over your appetite and weight, allowing your hunger and weight regulating systems to go to work in service of your health.
• Experience how transformation in the deep brain and conscious mind naturally improves emotion and eating regulation abilities. 
• Discover that, with healing, you are not as hungry and prone to disordered eating as you thought you were. Shift into self-trust as you experience your ability to regulate your emotions and eating. 

Return to a Healthy Self
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• Experience confidence in your ability to navigate the tricky, American food and diet culture with a new kind of control -- one involving self-awareness, self-care, and good self-regulation. 
• Recover a low-stress, non-obsessive relationship with food -- one that is joyful and nourishing.
• Develop a healthy body image and a sense of oneness in mind, body, and spirit.
• Experience that you are in charge of when and how much you turn to highly-rewarding substances for pleasure and soothing. 
• Taste freedom from disordered eating patterns, dieting, and weight obsession, so you can shift your focus into more meaningful life pursuits that reflect your strengths.
• Awaken to your inherent value and the uniquely important person you are. 

“In response to her announcement that she is starting a new diet, her therapist said, ‘Oh dear, how much weight do you plan to gain?’” - Unknown

It takes courage to break the spell that diet culture puts on you. But the reward for your bravery and effort can be huge! Let us help you break free of diet-dogma to recover your health, a positive body image, and healthy eating patterns on the non-dieting path. Our unique method involves health-focused psychotherapy and neurofeedback brainwave training. 

You didn't kick a puppy. You ate food."
​- Alison Ross LMFT

Recent Blog Post: Should diets come with warning labels?  By: Alison Ross, LMFT

Contact us to set up a free 15-minute consultation to learn about how we can support your recovery from disordered eating patterns and body image struggles. 

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About neurofeedback

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I lose weight with a non-dieting approach?
Studies show that yo-yo dieting cycles paradoxically predict weight gain, [1] [2] a higher body fat percentage and increased belly fat, [3] [4] and a loss of muscle mass.[5] [6] Even if you sometimes lose weight at the beginning of a diet, yo-yo dieting cycles can cause metabolic adaptations and trigger disordered patterns that can, paradoxically, increase weight and erode confidence. If yo-yo dieting cycles and the stressful weight-watching lifestyle increased your weight, you might release weight when you settle into a healthier relationship with food and your body. If your weight is too low and sustaining it keeps you at war with your biology, you might gain the weight you need to be nourished, healthy, and at peace. Whether or not you lose weight, non-dieters benefit from significant improvements to their health and body image as they develop a joyful and nourishing relationship with food, their bodies, others, and themselves.

What will my therapy program entail?
A typical treatment plan involves one hour of health-focused psychotherapy and one hour of neurofeedback brainwave training per week. Clients are encouraged to attend a weekly, online group to receive social support. Each case is different, but most clients need at least twenty weeks of therapy. After your initial assessment, your therapist will recommend a treatment plan to accomplish your goals.

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[1] Dulloo AG, Jacquet J, Montani JP, Schutz Y. How dieting makes the lean fatter: from a perspective of body composition autoregulation through adipostats and proteinstats awaiting discovery. Obes Rev. 2015;16 Suppl 1:25–35. doi:10.1111/obr.12253
[2] Dulloo AG, Montani JP. Pathways from dieting to weight regain, to obesity and to the metabolic syndrome: an overview. Obes Rev. 2015;16 Suppl 1:1–6. 
[3] Bosy-Westphal A, Kahlhöfer J, Lagerpusch M, Skurk T, Müller MJ. Deep body composition phenotyping during weight cycling: relevance to metabolic efficiency and metabolic risk. Obes Rev. 2015;16 Suppl 1:36–44. doi:10.1111/obr.12254
[4] Mackie GM, Samocha-Bonet D, Tam CS. Does weight cycling promote obesity and metabolic risk factors?. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2017;11(2):131–139. doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2016.10.284
[5] Berentzen T, Sørensen TI. Effects of intended weight loss on morbidity and mortality: possible explanations of controversial results. Nutr Rev. 2006;64(11):502–507. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2006.tb00183.x
[6] Mackie GM, Samocha-Bonet D, Tam CS. Does weight cycling promote obesity and metabolic risk factors?. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2017;11(2):131–139. doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2016.10.284

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