Emotional Fat
Oprah Late Night
I've never addressed this issue but I felt compelled after
seeing Oprah late one night. It was the first
time ever seeing her show and now I understand why
she's so popular. She takes on real life issues (most of
the time) with the intent of helping those in need.
Dr. Phil
Oprah's main guest this night was Philip McGraw, Ph.D.
Dr. Phil has written a book called "Life Strategies:
Doing What Works, Doing What Matters" which can found on
Amazon. Her other guests were people
who are overfat scattered throughout the audience with
a select few on stage with her and Dr. Phil.
Keep the Fat Away
The focus of the show was on the real reason why these
people are overfat ... after all, these are the people who
happen to be experts on every diet or eating plan known
to mankind. They've tried every one and each
person has lost and gained hundreds of pounds in their
lives and can't seem to keep the fat away.
Dr. Phil states there is no diet in the world that will
help these folk until they have addressed the emotional
issues that are causing the condition. This
article is for those whose blockade may be the emotional
factor.
Physically Abused
Dr. Phil deals with all kinds of emotional issues in
his book but this show happened to focus on weight
issues. He discussed the reasons why body fat and/or food
happens to be the tool/crutch/defense mechanism of some
people. There appeared to be a main theme occurring with
each person. Some were physically abused in the past,
some had been raped, and others may have had a parental
conflict all their lives. Dr. Phil says whatever the
issue may be, they all share a common theme.
Rape Victim
Let's use the rape victim as an example. She rationalized
her state of over eating/over fatness to keep rape from ever
happening to her again. She assumed if she's not thin
and attractive no one in their right mind would want to
rape her. Whether her thinking is right or wrong is
irrelevant to the issue. What does matter is, she's allowing
her rapist to still control her after all these years. It
obviously affects her health physically and emotionally.
Dr. Phil stated that she has to own her feelings
about the incident and has to make the choice to not
allow it/he to control her life anymore. Until she makes
that choice, nothing will be done about her weight
and/or eating style.
Yes, of course I agree rape is a terrible thing to happen to
anyone and I can't imagine how hard it must be to have to
deal with such an act of violence. The point Dr. Phil
makes is; she is allowing the rapist to still have his way with
her ... just in another form.
More Fat Than Ever - Parental Conflict
The same thing applies to the parental conflict issue. Put
yourself in the place of the person who has this conflict.
Imagine your parents raising you as a runway model. All
your life you have been told not to eat this and not to
eat that. Throughout your life you have been manipulated
to do something you don't want to do and/or been the
target of negative reinforcement. By the time you reach
adulthood you can't wait to get away from your parents
and don't want anything to do with the modeling industry.
You begin slammin' down calories like there's no
tomorrow. Your parents are disappointed and continue to
throw jabs at you concerning your weight. You keep
getting fatter and fatter even though the jabs are disguised
as concern. Ten to twenty years later and ten to twenty
diets later shows the same results ... more fat than ever.
The circumstances may be different for different people
but the end result is the same.You the child (now adult)
are punishing your parents for punishing you. And, until
you own those feelings and stop letting your parents
control you negatively, no diet/eating plan will ever be
permanent. Let go of the hurt and feelings and you'll let
go of the fat.
The two above examples are just that ... examples. I
don't know what the statistics are concerning the
percentage of people with over fatness being related to
emotional issues. I do know it is reality for some and
my hope in writing this is to make you think about it.
If you're one of the Yo-Yo dieters, then may be
something to look into further. If so, go to
http://www.amazon.com and read about Dr. Phil's
book and tapes. The book again is called "Life
Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters."
Recent Comments
8
I agree 100% with abuse (emotional pain) as the main issue of the majority of overweight problems. I think abuse is also the underlying cause of some of the really destructive behaviours so many people exhibit. Being overweight is a slow form of self destruct. The unfortunate thing is that so many people cannot either afford or understand how to let go of their pain. Thank you for speaking up about this. Not all of us watch Oprah or Dr. Phil, but I have seen these traits repeatedly.
Thank you Daisy!
I wrote this about 15 years ago and didn't have it as duplicate content on my website. So, I thought I'd stick it on here as my 1st test blog. However, the Amazon affiliate links in the Amazon pictures don't work.
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Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome, Evelyn!