Empower Yourself by Self-Analysis

One of my patients today has turned around a longstanding plateau. She had lost a great deal of weight with us (about 70 lbs), then began to regain 20 and stayed there for quite some time. I hadn't seen her for a couple of months, but was impressed with her positive attitude. She was no longer concerned about "being perfect” on a diet. She had come to accept the fact that she would have good days and bad days, but more importantly she had been spending a lot of time reading books, trying to understand why she would self-sabotage her weight-loss success. (In fact, this was a learned behaviour she developed from adolescence where she didn't feel deserving of any success). By accepting the fact that she had to learn to eat better while not putting pressure on herself to lose weight every week, she indeed had lost weight and wasn't even aware of it.

The point I'm trying to make is that learning to eat better, losing weight and staying healthy by doing regular exercise is a process of understanding ourselves better. Why do we overeat at times? Is it fatigue, sadness or anxiety? Is it due to a poor interpersonal relationship with our spouse, friend or a member of our family? Is it related to feelings of low self-esteem?

If you work at trying to understand those feelings or situations that precipitate inappropriate choices of food, the better you will be able to lose weight and keep it off long term.

We must learn from our mistakes and failures. We cannot just look at ourselves and say: "I failed, therefore I'm a failure.” This is inappropriate thinking. A person who is willing to struggle and learn from mistakes is a person headed for success. We must slow down and analyze our actions. A lot of times we are rushing around so much, we don't take time to understand our feelings. Instead, we eat into those feelings, and feel frustrated with ourselves later on. Yet we didn't take time to understand where and how those negative feelings came from.

So, slow down (mentally slow down) and really analyze your feelings and reasons for overeating. If this is difficult, go to Chapters and get a book to work through. A good one is "Mind over Mood.” There are many others on panic, anxiety and depression. Even if they don't exactly fit you personally, they will help you gain insight into yourself and your behaviours. This will empower you and you will be less likely to reach for food when your internal dialogue is negative.

I tell a lot of people to ‘talk to food.' I really mean it. Question yourself at all times: "Am I really hungry? Is this bag of potato chips really going to make me feel more relaxed or less depressed? Maybe an apple with peanut butter instead of ice cream will be enough to satisfy this craving.”

Pause long enough to try to get a feel of why you are reaching for certain snacks. Are you really hungry? There is usually an emotion in the background, and you may be able to talk yourself out of the snack. If you do, I know you will feel great about yourself the next day. You will feel empowered. Put together many small successes like this and you will be well on your way to weight loss success.

You can do it; don't ever give up!

Dr. Doug