| If you're a woman who has struggled for years | | | | |
| with being overweight, feeling afraid of | | | | 7. You think your inability to lose weight is |
| eating real food, caught in a cycle of | | | | all your fault. |
| binging and dieting, then you may have to | | | | |
| consider that you are a part of the majority | | | | 8. The success of your day depends upon what |
| of those for whom dieting does not work. | | | | number the scale says. |
| | | | |
| Recently it has been revealed and admitted by | | | | 9. You skip meals in an attempt to reduce |
| the medical community that diets just don't | | | | calories or fat. |
| work for 90-98% of all people. In the April | | | | |
| 2007 issue of The American Psychologist, the | | | | 10. You avoid parties and other social |
| Journal of the American Psychological | | | | gatherings because you hate your body. |
| Association, UCLA researchers reported that | | | | |
| diets don't work in the long run. | | | | 11. You avoid speaking up and letting your |
| | | | feelings be known because you are afraid of |
| According to the latest results of a | | | | people judging you and saying that you're |
| composite study done at UCLA, Traci Mann, | | | | fat. |
| Associate Professor of Psychology at UCLA and | | | | |
| lead author of the study said, "We found that | | | | 12. You don't want people to see you eat. |
| the majority of people regained the weight, | | | | |
| plus more. Sustained weight loss was found | | | | 13. When you are out at a social gathering, |
| only in a small minority of participants | | | | you'll order what you think you should and |
| while complete weight regain was found in the | | | | then go home and eat more food to satisfy the |
| majority. Diets do not lead to sustained | | | | feelings of emptiness. |
| weight loss or health benefits for the | | | | |
| majority of people." | | | | 14. You'll avoid sex or being intimate |
| | | | because you don't feel attractive. |
| The thing is you probably already know deep | | | | |
| down in your heart that this may be true for | | | | 15. You refuse to buy clothes in a size that |
| you. However, most likely you have no idea | | | | really fits you |
| what to expect if you stop dieting and more | | | | |
| importantly how to make it work for you so | | | | 16. When you're stressed, all you can think |
| that you can once and for all overcome your | | | | to do is eat |
| emotional eating and eventually lose all your | | | | |
| excess weight as you eat real food. | | | | 17. You have a closet full of clothes that |
| | | | you can't fit into |
| These fears of yours are very natural and | | | | |
| understandable because the years of dieting | | | | If you have 5 or more "T" responses, then you |
| that you've endured has conditioned you to | | | | are unfortunately overly concerned with your |
| think about yourself and your relationship to | | | | weight and probably an emotional eater. If |
| food in a very disempowering way. | | | | you have less than 5, you may still be |
| | | | dieting and it could be working for you. If |
| You've been taught to rely on diets to solve | | | | that's the case, then don't change anything |
| your weight problem, and to believe that you | | | | unless you feel that you are ready to get off |
| are helpless over food, when the problem is | | | | the diet roller coaster. |
| not actually what you are eating, but what is | | | | |
| eating you. The diets are actually a part of | | | | Whatever your results, take heart, it's never |
| the problem because they have probably made | | | | too late to begin again. You can overcome |
| you become obsessed about food and caused you | | | | weight and body obsession and learn how easy |
| to hate your body. | | | | it is to trust your body by taking the first |
| | | | step to decide to stop dieting. However if |
| Here's a checklist to see if you are weight | | | | you are an emotional eater, it's important to |
| and food obsessed. Go through the list and | | | | balance your decision to embrace non dieting |
| see how many of these items are true for you. | | | | and to integrate that with learning some |
| Then mark a "T" for true and "F" for false. | | | | solid stress relief techniques to handle the |
| Then tally up your "T" responses. | | | | emotional tug that you get when you recognize |
| | | | that you're not really hungry. |
| 1. You start each morning by getting on the | | | | |
| scale. | | | | The next thing that you need to learn how to |
| | | | do is to be gentle with yourself and change |
| 2. You think about food all the time | | | | the way that you think about yourself and |
| | | | food. The way to do this is to learn new ways |
| 3. You take your mirror too seriously. | | | | of coping with stress and to take action to |
| | | | increase the juicy factor in your life, which |
| 4. You tend to be an all or nothing person | | | | just means to have more fun and do what you |
| | | | love more often. |
| 5. You judge yourself harshly. You think of | | | | |
| food as good or bad and when you eat the bad | | | | By learning to handle your emotions and |
| foods, you criticize yourself for being weak. | | | | knowing the difference between when you are |
| | | | really hungry and not, and setting aside time |
| 6. You feel guilty and shameful when you | | | | for you, that is the key to making non diet |
| overeat | | | | weight loss work for you. |