“Traditional dieting strategies don’t work for emotional eaters because the psychological aspects of weight management aren’t fully addressed by most plans. Most diet programs don’t deal with self-sabotage and the real reasons why we knock ourselves off track. To achieve lasting weight management success, emotional eaters need to go through the following four stages of change.
D - Discover: The first step is to discover our hidden emotional obstacles and understand the food-feelings connection that makes balanced eating so difficult. It’s essential to tune in to our inner selves before we can attempt to change our outer appearance. We need to identify the self-defeating thoughts and attitudes, that lead us to sabotage our success with such frustrating regularity. Discovery is crucial because it’s impossible to win the weight war until we know who the enemy really is.
I - Invent: Once we’ve discovered the emotional issues and self-defeating ways of thinking that have always stood in our way, we need to invent a new way of managing our lives and ourselves. It’s time to break free from old habits and standard modes of operating. This requires that we invent healthier, more nurturing ways of thinking to combat those self-defeating tendencies.
E - Extinguish: The next step is to extinguish the old, unhealthy ways of thinking, feeling and perceiving as we adopt our newly-invented life plan. Healing old wounds and building new skills will help us deal with life’s troubles head on and decrease our reliance on food.
T - Transform: Our final task is to transform our new insights, skills and healing into a positive lifestyle that emphasizes healthy food choices and regular exercise. After much hard work, one of my clients got to this stage and said, “I’m at the point now where exercising and eating right are emotionally uncomplicated.” What she meant was that she at last felt free of her old emotional shackles and could now make the commitment necessary for the long-term task of successful weight management.
The D.I.E.T. Plan is a sometimes tough — but necessary — process for those of us with emotional eating issues. Remember: Until you deal with the issues, you can’t tackle the fat."---author unknown
I don't know who wrote this but I LOVE it nonetheless! After having lost 130 pounds and struggling like most women to KEEP it off, I know the issues we face first hand.
The self-discovery aspect of the weight loss journey is perhaps the most important part. The workbook that is part of The Vice Busting Diet is filled with 26 vital weeks of it. It isn't enough to say you want to lose weight, you must get to the root of why you gained it in the first place and what it might be doing for you. What do I mean by that? In the 10 years that I have been trying to help obese and overweight women to get healthier, to give up their most unhealthy habits or "vices" I have found that for many women the excess weight serves as a shield from getting hurt--or atleast they think it is sparing them. When in reality, the excess weight harms health, hurts self-esteem and sometimes hinders personal growth.
It is time to reinvent yourself and your future! Extinquish poor health and excess pounds from your life and in doing so you will transform into the person you know you can be!
Julia