It really does comes down to the definition of 'diet.' You improved your diet and level of activity rather than going *on* a diet for a short term so you finding this effective is not included in the success rates of 'diets.' https://twitter.com/makingthematrix/status/1265244778444316673

The studies into the effectiveness of *diets* does not include the millions of people who make their diet one of the consistent self-care things they do. It implies that people have a natural range of weights that their bodies arrive at & trying to change this is futile.

I think this is one of the things that annoys many slim people about fat activism because most of them are not slim by default while eating whatever they want and therefore merit being said to have 'thin privilege.'

Most slim people give a certain amount of thought to their diet even if it's as simple as 'Waistband getting a bit tight. I won't buy any cakes or biscuits for a couple of weeks & will stop taking the elevator.'

I don't mean being able to take this attitude & thus having a healthy relationship with food isn't a privilege. It is in the same way as not having an eating disorder like anorexia is or not having to take medication that makes you starving all the time (my problem) is.

But this is the wrong way to look at it. It's not really a privilege not to have psychological problems that involve overeating or undereating & by acting like it is, we take the focus away from where it should be - on the people who do have psychological problems & need help.

This is where Fat Studies goes so very wrong and is so harmful. The Fat Studies Journal says: "Fat Studies is similar to academic disciplines that focus on race, ethnicity, gender, or age." No, it isn't. Let me explain the problem with that.

I am not a fan of critical race theory, but I did find one of its positions thought-provoking. This is that white people often think of racism against racial minorities as a problem racial minorities have when it should be thought of as a problem (racist) white people have.

The problem, of course, is that they say it's a problem of white people rather than racist white people. However, they were right to say that the focus of anti-racism shouldn't be racial minorities but (racist) racial majorities.

That is, it is clearly right to say "The problem is not you. There is nothing wrong with you. There is something wrong with people who are prejudiced against you because you are black (or gay, or female, or trans, or whatever.) This is not the case with obesity.

There is something wrong with being obese. Not morally wrong. But it is sub-optimal to be carrying around large amounts of adipose tissue that limits & constrains you and puts you at greater risk of several diseases and early death.

We simply cannot treat obesity like race, gender, sexuality or disability & demand that society change to be more accepting and accommodating, because obesity is a treatable health condition that only the individual has the agency to treat.

There are a few physiological and way more psychological causes of obesity and so the only way to address the problem is by addressing the obese individual's problems in sympathetic, non-judgemental and effective ways.

Studies purporting to show that 'diets don't work' are necessarily looking at people who had already developed the health problem of obesity & probably have some kind of problem that needs fixing on a psychological level & showing that short term behaviour changes don't fix it.

We know this. We know that if someone is behaving in a way that hurts them, there is likely to be a psychological cause and telling them how to stop doing the behaviour that hurts them will not fix that. We don't say, "Here's how not to stick needles of opiates in your veins."

The studies don't look at the majority of people who don't have a psychological dependence on excessive amounts of food and so consciously manage their weight as a practical issue of self-care without finding it tremendously difficult psychologically.

If they did, they would certainly find that diets do work because people with no unhealthy psychological dependence on food will report that they have managed their weight all their lives by managing their diet.

There is a need for psychological support for obese people that is able to say "Something's gone a bit wrong in your relationship with food & it is hurting you. This is very common. Let's work out what function food is serving for you & how to replace that with something better."

Wine and junk food serve as self-soothing tools for me when I am upset or stressed. I can replace these with exercise & doing needlework while listening to psychological thrillers but other people won't enjoy any of that so it's no good for them. It needs to be personal.

However, I think exercise is a universal for treatment of low or anxious mood so the key there is finding a form of it that is also pleasurable so you'll persevere with it. I like to do intense cardio workouts while listening to metal. You might prefer dancing or swimming.

And what is a thing you like to binge on other than food when stressed? With my two best friends, one of them likes medical documentaries and the other likes true crime shows. There are no calories in either of these.

However, I think the problem is often that food is something that can used for comfort relatively and we tend to have such busy lives. Nevertheless, if you are feeling low, try to make time for yourself to have a binge of some non-food or alcohol thing that relaxes you.