Evelyn Tribole

Biologically, your body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode—metabolism slows down and food cravings escalate.

Alicia had been dieting since she was a child. Although she was not officially dieting, she retained (and expanded) a set of food rules with each diet that nearly paralyzed her ability to eat normally. We see this all the time, the hangover from dieting: avoiding certain foods at all costs, feeling out of control the moment a “sinful” food is eaten, feeling guilty when self-imposed food rules are broken (such as “Thou shalt not eat past 6 P.M.”), and so on.

The problem occurs however, when diligent eating (almost bordering on militant) affects a healthy relationship with food—and negatively impacts your body.