Sleep is eluding Jess Palmer yet again. As she lies awake in the small hours, her brain whirrs uncontrollably. What is keeping her awake?<\/p>\n
You might be surprised to learn it\u2019s not worry about her career, the family finances, or her children\u2019s wellbeing. Instead, Jess is finding it hard to sleep thanks to the delicious anticipation of starting yet another new diet this month. She can\u2019t wait to count calories, weigh herself daily \u2014 or feel that empty rumble of her stomach again.<\/p>\n
Jess is one of an increasing band of women who find dieting thrillingly addictive. To those who find the effort to lose even a few pounds nothing short of agonising, Jess\u2019s excitement will seem peculiar at best and deranged at worst.<\/p>\n
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Payroll administrator Jess Palmer, 40, from Cardiff, has veered between size 10 to 20. Jess is adamant she finds dieting as addictive as alcohol or cigarettes are to others<\/p>\n
But Jess is adamant she finds dieting as addictive as alcohol or cigarettes are to others. Dieting is the one \u2018vice\u2019 she can\u2019t do without, one she compares to the thrill of dating a new lover. \u2018The high I get from dieting is unique. It\u2019s an all-consuming, ongoing feeling,\u2019 says Jess, 40, a payroll administrator from Cardiff.<\/p>\n
Currently weighing 15st and wearing size 16-18 clothes, she admits: \u2018I\u2019m beyond excited and have been unable to sleep.\u2019 She calls this familiar feeling her \u2018diet insomnia\u2019.<\/p>\n
You might wonder why, if Jess is hooked on dieting, she\u2019s overweight. The answer says much about the complex relationship many women have with food.<\/p>\n As Jess, who is 5ft 6in and has veered between 10st and 18st, from size 10 to 20, confesses, the \u2018buzz\u2019 of dieting doesn\u2019t just come from being slim. It\u2019s also down to, as she puts it, \u2018the anticipation of knowing that any weight loss will attract compliments\u2019.<\/p>\n Jess in 2005 when she was a size 12. Dieting is the one \u2018vice\u2019 she can\u2019t do without, one she compares to the thrill of dating a new lover. \u2018The high I get from dieting is unique,’ she says. ‘It\u2019s an all-consuming, ongoing feeling’<\/p>\n This desire to be praised for her hard work has its negative side. Once the praise for a trim waistline dies down, diet addicts find themselves still yearning for attention. After all, what woman doesn\u2019t feel exhilarated by a compliment?<\/p>\n So as praise from friends and family naturally wanes, diet addicts can become depressed \u2014 despite achieving their goal of a thinner figure. And as that thrill of being newly slim fades, many turn to food for comfort.<\/p>\n They put weight back on \u2014 before setting off on the cycle again, endlessly chasing the euphoria brought about by a flattering remark about a recently toned tummy or a freshly pert bottom.<\/p>\n Even Jess\u2019s choice of words such as \u2018buzz\u2019 and \u2018thrill\u2019 is revealing \u2014 exposing an open secret among many dieters: that, alongside the crushing low of gaining weight, there is an excitement to dieting that can become truly compulsive.<\/p>\n Experts believe there\u2019s also a biological reason some women become addicted to dieting: it can give a huge boost in dopamine, the pleasure hormone.<\/p>\n Harley Street weight-loss specialist Sandra Roycroft-Davis, founder of thinkingslimmer.com, explains that as a result it\u2019s very easy to get locked into a cycle of dieting. \u2018Research shows that the expectation of pleasure, such as feeling good after losing weight, gives a powerful dopamine buzz,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n \u2018Habits \u2014 and yo-yo dieting is a classic example \u2014 build a pattern of this expectation. We call this a habit loop. The pleasure in anticipating weight loss, even if we know the pounds will go back on later, leads us to repeat a behaviour.<\/p>\n \u2018The reason so many people repeat unsuccessful diets over and over again is they remember the dopamine buzz they got the last time they went on the diet. The pleasure they get from the short-lived weight loss outweighs the pain of putting it back on again.\u2019<\/p>\n Jess aged 18 when she weighed 10 stone.\u00a0She admits the buzz of dieting is partly down to \u2018the anticipation of knowing that any weight loss will attract compliments’<\/p>\n Studies show such pleasurable habits can turn into addictions for up to 30 per cent of people, Sandra explains. But Jess is determined this diet will be her last. \u2018I want to lose 4st. If I get on the scales tomorrow and I\u2019ve lost so much as a pound, it will be exhilarating.\u2019<\/p>\n With such incentives, it\u2019s little wonder that a reported 60 per cent of self-confessed diet addicts like Jess will try up to 20 weight-loss plans in their lifetime.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, nine out of ten diets end in failure. Indeed, Britain\u2019s \u00a32 billion diet industry is lucrative because of such repeat failures, not in spite of them.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve never been more obsessed with weight loss \u2014 witness the exponential growth of various eating fads \u2014 yet there are more people with weight problems than ever. Some 60 per cent of adults in the UK are overweight or obese.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also no doubt that social media fuels the \u2018thrill\u2019 for diet addicts. Many describe the \u2018high\u2019 of posting a picture online showing their newly slim figure, and receiving praise and \u2018likes\u2019 in return.<\/p>\n Dieting today is a competitive online sport. Bloggers share tips and photo diaries of their transformation. Photo montages of fat \u2018before\u2019 pictures and thin \u2018afters\u2019 litter Instagram and Facebook, and are among the most viewed images on these social networks.<\/p>\n Jess started dieting in her early 20s and was quickly hooked on the attention.<\/p>\n \u2018I was a normal-sized child,\u2019 recalls Jess, who lives with her husband Emlyn, 43, a print manager, and their children Gus, six, and Joni, three.<\/p>\n \u2018Aged 16, I was a size 12. Six months after graduating from university, I was 15st and a size 20.<\/p>\n \u2018Then, aged 22, I broke up with a boyfriend. I weighed 15st 9lb and decided to go to a slimming club. I lost 3st 7lb and remember being exhilarated. One of my friends refused to believe it was me when he saw me after I\u2019d lost all the weight.\u2019<\/p>\n The buzz wore off, however, as did the compliments. Jess began to indulge in unhealthy foods again, and the pounds soon came back.<\/p>\n The years 2000 to 2011 were spent flitting from one addictive diet to another. The plan that elicited the greatest buzz was, she says, the Cambridge diet, where you have meal replacement milkshakes and soups totalling just 800 calories a day \u2014 far below the recommended daily intake of 2,000 calories.<\/p>\n \u2018I did the Cambridge Diet for six weeks in 2008. I lost 2st, which gave me an almost instant high, because I could see the weight loss very quickly in my face and my waist and so could other people,\u2019 Jess recalls. Yet again, however, the compliments soon abated and the \u2018buzz\u2019 evaporated almost as quickly as her weight loss. Soon even a quick fix like the Cambridge diet wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n And so, four years ago, weighing 18st, Jess sought gastric band surgery. She was so excited that she now describes \u2018delirium\u2019: \u2018For six months before the surgery, I would look at my size 12 clothes, anticipating how I would look, imagining how nice people would be.\u2019<\/p>\n At first, she wasn\u2019t disappointed. She describes the gastric band as more thrilling than any diet \u2014 not how you\u2019d expect someone to think of major surgery.<\/p>\n \u2018I was so excited,\u2019 explains Jess. \u2018It was a really big decision to spend \u00a35,000 on myself when I could have put that money into my children\u2019s university fund, but I wanted them to have a slim, healthy mum.<\/p>\n \u2018I lost 2st in the first few months, and two more after that. But because the band didn\u2019t shrink my stomach and simply slowed down the speed at which I could eat, I discovered cheese and all the other foods I love could slide easily through it if I ate slowly.\u2019<\/p>\n Soon she was back to her yo-yo dieting ways. Today, even while she fizzes with the excitement of starting a diet \u2014 this time, it\u2019s a slimming app \u2014 Jess admits being slender would bring challenges: \u2018If I do maintain it, I will miss the thrill of trying another diet. If I\u2019m ever going to stay slim, I\u2019ll have to find new ways of getting that adrenaline rush.<\/p>\n \u2018And, yes, if I do end up putting weight back on, I admit I\u2019ll take comfort in the idea that I\u2019ll be able to do it all over again one day.\u2019<\/p>\n But is the sort of rapid weight loss and weight gain to which Jess is addicted bad for her health?<\/p>\n Rachel Palmer, 33, has spent her life addicted to the adrenaline rush of quick-fix diets.\u00a0\u2018I\u2019d always been a slim child, but suddenly gained weight during the summer holidays when I was 14. A few girls at school made comments that deeply hurt me,\u2019 recalls Rachel, who works in brand management. \u2018The following summer the puppy fat melted away, prompting grown-ups to be concerned about my weight loss, and the catty girls at school to be impressed by the new slim me’<\/p>\n Paul Aveyard is professor of behavioural medicine at Oxford University and has studied the habits of dieters. He says that, despite decades of warnings about the potential health damage caused by such compulsive dieting, including hormonal imbalance and osteoporosis, it\u2019s better than not losing weight at all.<\/p>\n \u2018At least they\u2019re doing something to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol,\u2019 he explains. \u2018The best thing you can do is lose weight and keep it off, but this is better than no dieting.<\/p>\n \u2018Watching what you eat, consuming less than you would naturally, and planning meals can get boring. After a while your mental energy \u2014 which I liken to a battery \u2014 will run flat. When someone runs out of energy they tend to gradually regain the weight.<\/p>\n \u2018Various factors can re-energise their inner battery, however, including receiving compliments. The challenge is keeping that energy going for a long time.\u2019 This is something Rachel Palmer, 33, can identify with, having spent her life addicted to the adrenaline rush of quick-fix diets.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019d always been a slim child, but suddenly gained weight during the summer holidays when I was 14. A few girls at school made comments that deeply hurt me,\u2019 recalls Rachel, who works in brand management.<\/p>\n She lives in Wigan with her husband Phill, 33, a recruitment manager, and their daughters Beth, 14, and Dorothy, one. \u2018The following summer the puppy fat melted away, prompting grown-ups to be concerned about my weight loss, and the catty girls at school to be impressed by the new slim me.\u2019<\/p>\n Rachel aged 18 at size eight. Rachel swung between a size six and a 14 throughout her mid-20s<\/p>\n Years of compulsive dieting followed, and Rachel swung between a size six and a 14 throughout her mid-20s. \u2018Losing weight became an addiction. People congratulate you, which makes me feel like I\u2019ve achieved something.<\/p>\n \u2018I gained weight through contentment after marrying Phill when I was 28, and went up to a size 16, but when I started working in an image-driven corporate environment I was horribly conscious of being the biggest woman in the office, so I dieted again.<\/p>\n \u2018In eight months I dropped to a size 10. The compliments were off the scale. The most thrilling was a female colleague who had a beautiful figure yet wanted to know how I\u2019d got into shape.\u2019<\/p>\n Sarah aged 32 when she was a size 16. She said: \u2018I gained weight through contentment after marrying Phill when I was 28, and went up to a size 16, but when I started working in an image-driven corporate environment I was horribly conscious of being the biggest woman in the office, so I dieted again’<\/p>\n Following the birth of her daughter Dorothy in January last year, however, Rachel, who\u2019s 5ft 7in, ballooned to a \u2018big size 16\u2019 and almost 14st \u2014 her heaviest yet.<\/p>\n However, because she is breastfeeding, she couldn\u2019t indulge in a faddy diet, and instead has been forced to adopt consistent healthy eating. She\u2019s now a size 12-14.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve found it difficult because part of me needs that constant pat on the back,\u2019 she confides. \u2018To be honest, I\u2019ve missed drastic dieting \u2014 but I\u2019m more conscious than ever of being a role model to my two daughters.\u2019<\/p>\n Sarah Clayton, 51, who works in an accounts office, feels the opposite. After a lifetime as a diet addict, in 2015 she slimmed to a size 12 from a 24. After keeping it off for the last 15 months through consistent healthy eating, she\u2019s now adamant she doesn\u2019t want to return to dieting \u2014 however compelling it once was.<\/p>\n After a lifetime as a diet addict, Sarah Clayton, 51, who works in an accounts office, slimmed to a size 12 from a 24.\u00a0After keeping it off for the last 15 months through consistent healthy eating, she\u2019s now adamant she doesn\u2019t want to return to dieting \u2014 however compelling it once was<\/p>\n \u2018My friends and I used to aspire to that \u201cwow\u201d moment in the film Grease, where Olivia Newton-John\u2019s character Sandy reveals her transformation wearing tight leather trousers,\u2019 says Sarah, who is single and lives in Windermere.<\/p>\n \u2018I guess that\u2019s what I achieved through gaining and losing weight, because each time I was able to revel in compliments.\u2019<\/p>\n Over the years Sarah, who is 5ft 6in, lost and gained as much as 3st at a time on a variety of faddy diets. But her cholesterol and blood sugar went through the roof and it took a stern talking-to from her GP in 2015 for her to change.<\/p>\n Sarah aged 30 (left) and 49 (right). Over the years Sarah, who is 5ft 6in, lost and gained as much as 3st at a time on a variety of faddy diets. But her cholesterol and blood sugar went through the roof and it took a stern talking-to from her GP in 2015 for her to change<\/p>\n Sarah aged 25.\u00a0\u2018My friends and I used to aspire to that \u201cwow\u201d moment in the film Grease, where Olivia Newton-John\u2019s character Sandy reveals her transformation wearing tight leather trousers,\u2019 says Sarah, who is single and lives in Windermere<\/p>\n \u2018This time it was about my health, not about looking good,\u2019 she concludes.<\/p>\n \u2018Although the most important factor for me now is that I remain healthy and energetic, 15 months on from losing so much weight, it\u2019s peculiar to still be a size 12.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve had to find other ways to get my kicks. The flattery has faded away and there\u2019s no longer the euphoria of going to bed starving because I\u2019ve only eaten half a grapefruit, or of slipping into a smaller dress.\u2019<\/p>\n Some habits, it seems, are hard to truly shake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sleep is eluding Jess Palmer yet again. As she lies awake in the small hours, her brain whirrs uncontrollably. What is keeping her awake? You might be surprised to learn it\u2019s not worry about her career, the family finances, or her children\u2019s wellbeing. Instead, Jess is finding it hard to sleep thanks to the delicious Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/05\/20\/3EFA50C600000578-0-image-a-62_1491419696848.jpg\")
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