How the obsession with diet can damage self-esteem

Following a diet can have a wide variety of different goals, some of which are beneficial: from losing weight by eliminating fat stored in the body, as usual, until building muscle to be more in shape. way. In this sense, it cannot be said that the fact of carrying out an eating plan is something negative in itself.

However, when this becomes an obsession with healthy eating, changes in physical and mental health do arise that need to be taken into account. In this article we are going to focus on one of the ways in which the constant need to control everything we eat can affect us psychologically: decreased self-esteem.

• Related article: "Do you really know what self-esteem is?"

How can a diet obsession negatively affect self-esteem?

These are the main ways that the obsession with diet and healthy eating can directly or indirectly damage self-esteem.

1. Obsession with the physical

The obsession with physical appearance is one of the first symptoms that we can experience when improperly managing a food or diet plan.

On the one hand, certain diets surrounded by harmful marketing campaigns promise spectacular results that can make us we focus more than usual on the physical and look at ourselves in a mirror constantly, which not only leads to disappointment, but also directs us in a semi-unconscious way towards the search for defects in ourselves.

On the other hand, it can also happen that the problem is not in the diet itself, but in our expectations and the degree to which we want to fulfill a plan to lose fat to the millimeter, define muscles etc. In both cases, the person internalizes the routine of constantly checking her appearance and focusing too much of her attention on what she would like to reverse.

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2. Feeling guilty for feeling hungry

People who become obsessed with a diet often end up also developing, in the long run, a great feeling guilty every time they feel hungry or have the urge to break the strict diet they are on Following.

And it is that associated with that obsession to lead a healthy life usually arises a moralization of physical appearance: we cling to the idea that the human being is responsible for his beauty and / or the degree of his physical health through discipline, so that the experience Feeling hungry is often seen as a sign of weakness (despite the fact that no one can really control the appearance and disappearance of that feeling). sensation).

This feeling of guilt becomes more and more intense and the person ends up valuing himself more and more. least, for not considering themselves "mentally strong" enough to achieve their lifestyle wanted.

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3. Rebound effect

The rebound effect is a phenomenon experienced by some people who follow a diet for the first time or when they are not very used to it. In this context, it occurs when, in order to deal with the discomfort caused by an inadequate eating plan, the person ends up binge eating intermittently at times when she feels frustrated or experiences a lot of stress.

This situation is usually caused by the mixture of hunger caused by a strict diet and the tendency to think too much about food (even if it is to avoid it). This combination makes the concept "food" appear in the person's mind constantly. when looking for strategies to alleviate the discomfort you feel, even when it is not caused by the hungry.

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4. Social isolation

Diets can often contribute to feeling alone and displaced, since it is difficult for us to find someone whose lifestyle allows us to lead carry out ours without constantly exposing ourselves to meals after hours, types of food that we consider inappropriate (for example, at dinner with friends or quotes).

These difficulties to be "in sync" with someone makes many who, because of being obsessed with diet, adopt some lonely habits, which generate a feeling of unwanted loneliness. And once this has happened, it is very easy for us to feel bad about ourselves, having the mistaken impression that nobody wants to be our side (although what has really happened is rather the opposite process, we have made it too difficult for others to have access to us).

• Related article: "Unwanted loneliness: what it is and how we can combat it"

5. Physical health impairment

Following a strict diet, especially for people who do it for the first time and without reliable knowledge in this area, also has a direct and obvious impact on your physical health, give place to effects contrary to those desired. This can be due to several causes, such as a lack of macronutrients (there are many harmful beliefs about the importance of avoiding fats and all kinds of carbohydrates), the fact of experiencing stress by always trying to control what is eaten and anticipate the necessary ingredients to prepare the dishes during the week, the excess of physical exercise as a mechanism of supposed "compensation" of the excess of ingested calories, etc.

Of course, this health wear It is reflected both in the appearance of the body and in the degree of well-being or physical discomfort, and these experiences affect the person's self-esteem. If someone feels bad about what he sees in the mirror or how he feels, he will have a greater predisposition to assess himself from a pessimistic bias.

6. Demoralization linked to frustration

Frustration is also very directly related to the low self-esteem that many people who are following a diet, since this is a reminder that you cannot eat everything that the person wants in any moment. And this fixation on food leads us to constantly question whether the sacrifice made is worth judging from the progress, what has been achieved. The answer to this is, in most cases, a clear “No”, but the idea of ​​throwing in the towel generates great discomfort when keeping in mind all the effort and time invested in this process.

Thus, the combination of frustration and demoralization due to the relative lack of results makes the person learn to link their value as a person to the need to overcome those obstacles that he is facing and that at the moment he does not see himself capable of overcoming, which gives rise to a vicious circle. The person who has become obsessed with eating a healthy diet feels bad for not achieving what they had set out to do in terms of health or acceptance of her body, and at the same time she cannot avoid valuing her own "I" through that constant struggle frustrating.

7. Eating Disorders

In the most extreme cases we find the appearance of an eating disorder. These pathologies are mental health disorders that affect the way in which the person relates to food, often from an obsessive need for control what you eat to reach a certain goal in terms of physical appearance, while a series of dysfunctional thoughts of perception of one arise same Anorexia and bulimia are the most popular eating disorders, but there are other psychopathologies that are included in this category, such as megarexia.

In addition, given that they affect such a fundamental aspect of health as diet, these disorders They can trigger the appearance of other severe diseases associated with malnutrition or malnutrition. And since they expose the person to the risk of dying, it is important that professional help is sought at the first symptoms.

• Related article: "Anorexia Nervosa: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment"

Are you looking for professional psychological support?

If you want psychotherapeutic assistance to overcome anxiety and stress problems, low self-esteem, and/or eating disorders, contact me.

My name is king pigeon and I offer therapy sessions both face-to-face and online.