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."