Post by Brittany Gowland

Just like so many of my fellow Americans, I partake in the guilty pleasure of reality TV, usually with a smile on my face, but I can’t stop myself from becoming saddened by the television shows that chronicle the weight and body image struggles of celebrities like Carnie Wilson and Kirstie Alley. Many people can relate to these women and feel relieved knowing that even when you’re famous, you can fall victim to a fad diet and experience yoyo-like weight loss and weight gain.

Carnie Wilson underwent gastric bypass surgery to “solve” her weight problem, only to have gained weight in the end, and is now struggling (in front of millions of people) to try to figure out what to do.

Kirstie Alley has been in the spotlight for years, always because of her weight. After losing 75 pounds and becoming the spokesperson for Jenny Craig, she regained that weight plus some. Recently, Kirstie Alley has vowed “to lose 100 pounds again!” which I suppose she will attempt to do with the help of a weight loss product that she is currently endorsing.

The missing element in both Wilson and Alley’s solution is that they do not address their underlying relationships with food, weight, and body image. This portrays the message to all individuals watching that they too can ignore their own food issues. Newsflash: No weight loss plan/diet/exercise regimen, etc will ever be successful without first resolving other issues.

Carla Wolper, a researcher at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York, states exactly what I’m thinking when she says, “It would be nice if there was somebody out there doing it the right way”. But then again, I guess that wouldn’t make for a very interesting TV show.

On the contrary, I commend actor and comedian Jeff Garlin who wrote about his struggles with food in his new book “My Footprint”. It is not very often that a male, especially a famous one, speaks out about his insecurities. I applaud his honestly as he discusses his compulsiveness with food and his never-ending diet plan. It is comforting to those suffering to know that anyone, regardless of gender, can face these issues that he has identified, and will hopefully overcome.

I just watched Geneen Roth on Oprah, discussing her new book Women, Food and God. Bravo to Oprah for addressing the real reason people struggle with weight and eating. Finally she is getting off the diet roller coaster and getting to the source of the problem.

I just read this book last week.  It was a very enjoyable read.  I’ve long loved Geneen Roth’s work, as she has written many books on the topic of overeating.  She declares this book to be the culmination of the message she has been trying to convey for years.

While she does not address her ‘guidelines’ throughout the book, she slips them in at the back of the book for reference. The meat of the book is really looking at why we use food. Food is the drug of choice for many people in this country, largely due to the fact that it is not actually an illegal substance, so we can easily get away with using it to alter consciousness.

She doesn’t discuss how food makes us feel better, but anyone who has used it for reasons other than hunger knows its effectiveness all too well.  There is an actual neurological response to food that promotes feelings of calm and pleasure. It can activate Serotonin in the brain (just like Prozac), as well as endorphins, etc.  So it actually is an effective tool for soothing ourselves.  Except when it becomes the primary method of doing so, which often leads to weight gain and self-loathing.

Her guidelines are as follows:

1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment.  This does not include the car.
3. Eat without distractions.  Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-provoking conversation or music.
4. Eat what your body wants.
5. Eat until you are satisfied.
6. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
7. Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

Someone commented on my last post that I just seem to bash all healthy eating advice, but offer no solutions.  Actually, I have written extensively on my main website, linked to this blog, about the non-diet approach I use with my clients and in my own life.  I do bash typical healthy eating advice since it does not seem to be helping anyone.  In fact, as the traditional healthy eating chatter has grown louder, there has been a steady increase in obesity as well as eating disorders of all kinds.  That makes it pretty bash-worthy in my book, and to do otherwise would be unethical.

Ms. Roth is one of many voices of the non-diet movement.  Early adopters included Jane Hirshmann and Carol Munter in Overcoming Overeating and Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole in Intuitive Eating.  This approach is the only effective treatment of eating issues I have seen either in research or in practice.  This method allows people to normalize their relationship with food, which greatly decreases binges, overeating, and non-hunger eating. This can allow the gradual process of the body moving toward its set-point weight.  Weight loss is not the focus or the goal, but rather it is the relationship with food that is the problem to be solved.

I can tell you that there are many days where I still marvel at the fact that I can (and do) eat whatever I want, and my body maintains a stable, natural set-point weight. I do not have to think about food, weight or my body.  I can enjoy the pleasure of eating, but it does not rule my world.  In the past I was certain (because of the pervasive message in our society) that I would have to actively manage my weight for my entire life.  I thought my body was some untamed beast ready to spring out of control with exponential weight gain if I lost vigilance for even a moment.

I didn’t know this was a problem, and I lost many years to this belief.  Those years were lost because all thoughts were about food and body.  I couldn’t enjoy being present in my world.  It was only when I woke up to the idea I could trust my body that I found the freedom to really live again. I am constantly grateful for this liberation, and I work passionately to help others liberate themselves.  So a great big, juicy Thank You to Geneen Roth and the power of Oprah to spread this word to the masses.

What?  After all the fuss that has been made over saturated fats over the years, how can we believe these fats are nothing but pure evil?  It’s true, sat fat has been vindicated.

All fats perform essential functions in the body.  Many of my clients have been so brow-beaten into believing fats are bad that many of them are not getting enough.  This leads to hormonal imbalances, mood disturbances, and even overeating as the body seeks to meet its needs.

Now we discover that the most villainous of all nutrients, saturated fats, can actually prevent heart disease.  It goes to show, once again, there are no bad foods–only bad information about food.  Apparently listening to your body is much better than listening to your head (or those that fill your head with misinformation).

So if saturated fats don’t cause weight gain and heart disease, what does?  Overeating, of any kind of food, is the real culprit.  The way to avoid overeating is to understand the cause (typically emotional eating, stress eating, boredom eating, binge eating, etc.), and deal with that directly.  Trusting your internal hunger and fullness cues as well as legalizing all foods will be the most effective tools for promoting healthy eating.

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