Read This: An Open Apology from a Weight-Loss Consultant

I know quite a few health coaches and dieticians who will find this open apology from a former weight-loss consultant rather interesting. It’s a mea culpa, posted earlier this week, from a blogger/health coach/cookbook author named Iris Higgins, who once worked as a weight-loss consultant at an unnamed weight loss company, something like a Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, but she doesn’t specify.

The letter is aimed at Higgins’s former clients: “It’s a letter to each and every woman that I unknowingly wronged,” she writes. “My heart is beating a little bit faster as I write this, and so I know this needs to be said. … Sometimes it just takes time for me to get up the courage to say the right thing.”

Here’s an excerpt:

I’m sorry because I put you on a 1200 calorie diet and told you that was healthy. I’m sorry because when you were running 5x a week, I encouraged you to switch from a 1200 calorie diet to a 1500 calorie diet, instead of telling you that you should be eating a hell of a lot more than that. I’m sorry because you were breastfeeding and there’s no way eating those 1700 calories a day could have been enough for both you and your baby.

… I’m sorry because it’s only years later that I realize just how unhealthy a 1200 calorie diet was. I stayed on a 1200-1500 calorie diet for years, so I have the proof in myself. Thyroid issues, mood swings, depression, headaches…oh and gluten intolerance that seemed to “kick in” after about a month of eating the pre-packaged food. Was it a coincidence? Maybe.

… I’m sorry because every time you ate something you “shouldn’t” or ate more than you “should,” I talked about “getting back on the bandwagon.” I cringe now every time someone uses that phrase. When did the way we eat become a bandwagon? When did everyone stop eating and become professional dieters? I’m sorry because I get it now.

Read the full letter here.

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