Recently Dr. Phil was on Rachael Ray discussing the importance of not dieting in order to lose weight permanently. His words were, “One and done.” Let me ask you. Are you still dieting? If you are, do you find that you’re spending most of your day thinking about what you just ate or what you’re going to eat next, Dr. Phil says that the possible roots of your obsession may surprise you. Before you take that next mouthful of food when you know that you aren’t hungry, see if any of these 7 statements ring true for you.
• Most of the time, people make the mistake thinking that their obsessive behavior and compulsive thinking means that they have no control around food. Your relationship to food only reflects how you feel about yourself, your self image, the things you tell yourself every day about what kind of person you are, what you deserve, what you are capable of achieving.
• If you’re spending much of your day obsessing about food, you may be using food as a way of avoiding some part of your life that needs attention. Food often becomes the battlefield substitute when we have trouble setting boundaries and/or asserting our needs.
• Studies show that between 92-98% of all people on diets will regain their weight within 5 years. Diets are not the answer. Self management of your stress is. You must be able to deal with the root of the problem. Food is not your problem. You have to relearn new ways of speaking to yourself.
• Consider that in order to truly get control of your eating, you have to give up the control. By taking the focus off of food and putting it onto caring for yourself and expressing your feelings, your food issues will melt away along with the excess pounds and inches you carry.
• Do you sometimes think that you’re a total screw up, a worthless human being simply by virtue of your pants size? What if you said, “My body image is independent of my self-image. If I am a good, caring and loving parent/spouse/child and an honest, responsible citizen, it doesn’t matter how much I weigh”? You may want to weigh less and that’s OK. Remember weight and self-image are not the same thing.
• Realize that you can unlearn this compulsive eating behavior and lose weight without dieting. If your definition of weight control is to avoid foods you love, your cravings will get you every time. You need to make peace with food and friends with your body.
• When discussing food obsession, Dr. Phil believes it’s important to note that one of the biggest problems with weight loss programs today is that they are highly focused on food. Many popular programs incorporate a regimented diet in which people have to weigh food and count calories, etc. People go on diets because they don’t want to eat less food but the structure of the diet requires them to spend their entire day focused on food, which only makes them want to eat all the time.
Take it from me. I’ve learned that if you want to make peace with food and friends with your body, it’s a process. Here’s a quote from one of my mentors, Dr. Nancy Bonus, the creator of The Beyond Dieting Bonus Plan.
“Permanent change requires a climate of love and nurturing, not self hatred and resentment.”
What no kick butt, bootcamp drill sargeant approach! No. It doesn’t work and you already know that. Don’t you? Join me on October 9 for my next teleclass, Tap Into Self Acceptance and Love the Skin You’re In. Let me teach you what I know about making peace with food and friends with your body. Hurry and be one of the 20 eligible women to save $20 on the cost of the class by leaving a comment on this blog.
Dr. Phil explains 7 reasons why dieting doesn’t work.
Dr. Phil, Andrea Amador, The Juicy Woman, weight loss, dieting,