Psychologist links dieting to addiction, outlines self-trust approach that helped her shed eight stone

Shahroo Izadi, a psychologist who specializes in addiction, says dieting can be treated like any other dependency. In a view she describes as doctor-backed and life-changing, Izadi says the approach helped her shed eight stone in 18 months without dieting, fat injections or other quick-fix schemes.

At her heaviest, Izadi stood 5 ft 7 in and weighed almost 19 stone at age 21, enduring a long cycle of restrictive eating, binges and yo-yo dieting. From adolescence she struggled with body image, tried appetite suppressants bought online, and embraced extreme diets that left her exhausted and hungry for more. A gastric-band operation, performed when she was 21 and paid for privately, brought initial weight loss, but the pattern persisted: the band was tightened to starve herself; she sought further tightening, then secretly binged on high-calorie foods. The band eventually slipped and had to be removed. By that point she weighed about 90 kg (around 14 stone 2 pounds).

She later entered therapy, which helped her develop a more compassionate approach toward herself. The turning point came when she began applying the same recovery techniques she used to help heroin- and alcohol-addicted patients to her own struggle with dieting. Encouraged by a therapist, she gradually adopted a method focused on self-trust and self-compassion. One technique she used repeatedly was to tell herself, "These hands are my hands," a reminder that she was not powerless over food. The practice helped interrupt the pattern of restriction, bingeing, guilt and further dieting.

In 18 months, Izadi says she lost about eight stone and has maintained the weight since 2013. She emphasizes that the breakthrough was not only about willpower but about changing the brain’s response to food and the emotional triggers that drive overeating. The shift—from punishment to support—foundations underpins her clinical work today, which blends addiction-recovery principles with nutrition and psychological insights.

Biological and psychological research supports aspects of this approach. Diets can trigger a pendulum effect: restriction elevates stress hormones like cortisol while increasing anticipation of reward, fueling cycles of dieting and eventual bingeing. When forbidden food is finally consumed, relief chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins surge, followed by shame and renewed dieting, setting the cycle in motion again. Repeated cycles can engrain these responses over time. A 2015 review in Obesity Reviews documented how repeated weight loss and regain amplifies both metabolic and psychological drives toward overeating.

Izadi argues that treating dieting as an addiction helps reframe it as a medical issue with biological drivers, not a matter of moral failure. Her approach prioritizes self-trust around food, steady eating patterns, and strategies that reduce reliance on external products or extreme methods. She has cautioned against fat jabs, gastric bands and other “quick fixes” that can reinforce powerlessness rather than autonomy, and she points readers to more gradual, sustainable habit change.

Her work spans NHS and private practice. After six years working with NHS patients and delivering workshops for health workers on empowering addicts to change, Izadi shifted to private practice to focus on dieting and eating behaviours. She has described her personal journey—from intense dieting to a compassionate, evidence-based approach—as a model for helping others free themselves from cycles of restriction and bingeing.

Adapted from How Diets Make Us Fat by Shahroo Izadi (Leap, £20). © Shahroo Izadi 2025. To order a copy for £18 (Offer valid to 27/12/25; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.