Leaving your support group

Although I think that diets often do us more harm than good, we're not here to make new hard and fast rules about how people should live.

Rather, this is what the Diet Survivors group is here for:

We're here to be intellectuals.

We're here to learn how to think for ourselves.

We're here to find our own inner food wisdom.

We're here to try a different kind of therapy--one that is more intellect-based than emotion-based.

We're here to find our autonomous selves.

We're here to find our rational selves.

Therefore, think about it. If someone on the Diet Survivors Yahoo! message board feels they need to return to the diet life, does this mean they don't belong in Diet Survivors anymore?

Here are some possible reasons why someone might return to dieting:

1. They're gaining weight, and this is upsetting to their goals
2. They're gaining weight, and this is dangerous for their health
3. They were addicted to the diet life, and still are
4. They are pressured by family or friends
5. Diets seem familiar and safe
6. Their doctor has advised them

Do any of these preclude a person from the path of finding more rational thinking, using the principles of cognitive therapy? Is anything contradictory here? I don't think so.

Look at it this way. Addressing and disrupting our faulty beliefs and self-talk is a lifelong process. They're about adaptive or internal change.

Everyone on God's green earth suffers from some faulty thinking. It's part of the human condition. It's often only
when we have something so dysfunctional in our lives, such as overeating and/or obesity, that we are forced to address our faulty thinking. That's just the way people are.

If you were to conclude that something you decide to do (that's defined as external, or technical change) contradicts something you choose to think (internal or adaptive change), I'd say you're thinking too black and white.

It's a good idea, if you're tempted to return to dieting, to examine your reasons, and just make sure you're thinking as soberly as you can.

That way, if it turns out you really were better off pursuing normal eating, you'll know it fairly quickly.

So why quit? I'd say for many of you, it's best to keep hanging around normal eating circles, especially Diet Survivors, even if you're embarking on another diet.

Diet Survivors is a particularly good choice, in my not-so-humble opinion, because you won't be condemned there just because you're seeking another route.

That's because, in the end, the goal of Diet Survivors is to encourage every person to find their autonomy again. To take back the reigns of your own eating life and learn to think for yourself regarding food and diets.

On the other hand, there are valid reasons to leave, too. Everyone is an individual. All are welcome to come and go as often as they please, and for any reason that they please.

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This blog is a companion to the free Yahoo! Diet Survivors message board and the free Diet Survivors newsletter.
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Find out more about Linda Moran's book, How to Survive Your Diet.