She ate takeout at her desk most nightsand, not surprisingly, put on a few pounds.
Her pop in A drive served her well.
“Everyone else was like, ‘I can’t do it more than a day!’
and I’d be on day five,” she recalls.
The pattern was physically and emotionally exhausting.
“And I learned that I want to eat things that make me feelamazing.”
This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of SELF.
“The motivation isn’t that I want to burn 700 calories a day.
It’s that I want to feel really good,” she says.
“It’s a totally different value proposition.”
The percentage of women who say they’re dieting has fallen by a third over the last two decades.
“My mother and sister did the diet thing, and I saw where it led them.
“Today, it’s all about what food can do for you.
Strong is the new thin.”
Admittedly, adult obesity in America still hovers above 30 percent.
But more Americans than ever are telling pollsters they’re trying to eat healthier, more balanced food.
The weight loss industry.
Even diet books are lagging.
“They’re looking for a more sustainable approach.
Women want to focus on eating a healthy, whole-food diet rather than obsessing over calories.
They want to play an active role in their own health, and to think for themselves.”
Chan School of Public Health.
Gibson, for instance, says she’s attuned to what a food can do for her.
“First of all, full fat tastes amazing,” Ronk says.
The good news is that so many of us are already there.
Research shows you’re likely to eat healthier if your friends do, too.
“Another friend is obsessed with acai bowls.
When I see what my friends are doing, I’m more motivated to do it myself.”
Lack of motivationspecifically, sustained self-motivationwas arguably what doomed generations of dieters to fail.
It’s hard to find a higher calling only in pounds lost or in inches no longer pinched.
“I don’t think I could actually ever do a diet.
I love food too much.”
Photo Credit: Johnny Miller
