[CyberTOPS] Oprah and Emotional Eating (good read)

Wed Jan 7 04:26:37 CST 2009

I feel for her so much.  It would be horrible to be in the public eye and have
this struggle.  It's bad enough to have your co-workers look you up and down
and you can see them registering your weight gain.  Why do people do that?  As
much as I've struggled with weight over the years, my mom still commented on a
neighbor gaining all her weight back.  She said she just didn't understand how
someone could let themselves do that after all the work they went through to
lose it.  I know she's blind to the fact that I've gained weight too.  I told
her that it's very easy to gain it back and it can come back on so much
quicker than it took to lose it.  There's not much worse than losing weight
and keeping it off for a while and receiving all the compliments and then
gaining some or all of it back.  You just know that people are wondering why
you did that to yourself...even people that have been there and know how it is
sometimes give you that look.
I personally faced the scale this morning and I'm ready to do something about
it...again.  What choice do we have but to keep on trying?  I'm not at my
heaviest, thank goodness, but I'm not at a happy weight.  I'm lucky to have a
wonderful friend at work who is going to work on weight loss with me and we've
started a lunch group where we just talk about our issues, share recipes and
ideas.  I hope to be feeling better by this time next month!
I don't post much anymore so thanks for listening!  I think sometimes it helps
to write and I should do it more often.

Kelley> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 08:16:10 -0500> From: reynoldssusan5 at aol.com>
To: puppy-raiser at hotmail.com; cybertops at cybertops.net> Subject: Re:
[CyberTOPS] Oprah and Emotional Eating (good read)> > I can relate to Oprah
and my heart goes out to her, also. Just also shows us that fame and fortune
do not cure all.> > TOPS hugs,> Susan R> VA#736, Carrollton> > > > In a
message dated 01/03/09 01:19:00 Eastern Standard Time,
puppy-raiser at hotmail.com writes:> If you haven't heard yet, you will soon-it's
everywhere in the media. Oprah > has disclosed that she has regained weight
she worked so hard to lose and that > she now weighs 200lbs. My heart goes out
to Oprah-as well as to the millions > of women who struggle just like her.
Today, on a morning news show, I watched > two reporters banter back and forth
about what they believe she should be > doing to reach and maintain a lower
weight. They discussed their certainty > that slower weight loss, smaller
meals, and more frequent exercise are just > what Oprah needs. They rattled
off new behaviors they think she could easily > make permanent if she would
just follow their advice. My husband just shook > his head at them knowingly
as my reaction started to show on my face. > It's not about the food. > I
can't imagine how painful it must be to have the world discussing your >
weight struggles. As of this morning there were 830 articles on Google about >
Oprah's newest admission of weight gain and I have no doubt that the number >
will more than double quickly. > It's not about the food-and Oprah knows that.
I've never spoken with Oprah, > but I have worked with enough clients
struggling with weight and food and > emotional eating to know that Oprah
almost certainly knows all those food and > nutrition and healthy eating tips.
Oprah knows how to exercise and Oprah knows > how to lose weight. Oprah knows
about the ways the body itself can make weight > loss difficult (I understand
that she also struggles with thyroid problems > which can create havoc with
metabolism, weight and energy levels). Oprah knows > what she "should" be
doing and Oprah might even lie awake at night beating > herself up when those
"shoulds" don't come to fruition. That's part of the > vicious cycle.
Unfortunately for Oprah, she has an audience of millions as she > succeeds and
fails and takes missteps. > > > > > > > > > Oprah is a very savvy woman with
incredible power and extensive resources. She > has accomplished amazing
things. If this was easy, don't you think she'd have > crossed this off her
list long ago? It's not simply about knowing nutrition > and exercise facts.
Oprah knows that. Oprah acknowledges that she struggles > with emotional
eating. > Emotional eating is about using food for needs and feelings and
situations > that really have nothing to do with a physical hunger. Emotional
eating is > about turning to food because you don't know what else to do or
because the > habit is so ingrained, that emotional cravings have become
indistinguishable > from physical hunger. > Nutrition and weight loss facts
are an important part of the weight loss > equation, but they aren't the whole
equation. If emotional eating is an issue > and it isn't addressed adequately,
any diet or food plan will ultimately fail. > Most weight loss plans neglect
the issue entirely-or-they point out the > problem of emotional eating (like
it is a character flaw) and warn the dieter > "to avoid it." What emotional
eaters need to know is how to avoid it and what > to do instead. > When we
approach weight loss without taking emotional eating into account, > we've
failed before we've started. No diet in the world is going to help us > cope
with tough emotions or situations. No food plan exists that will help us >
face stress or loneliness or boredom. Learning to identify our emotional >
hungers and respond to them without food is a skill that diets don't address.
> Perhaps the worst thing is that when we approach weight loss with a recipe >
that is missing a crucial ingredient and we don't know it, we feel like >
failures when the recipe flops. When the diet (that never addressed the >
dieter's emotional struggles with food) fails, we blame ourselves. We feel >
guilty and ashamed and awful about ourselves. And with weight, the struggle is
> all too visible. There is no place to hide. Especially for Oprah. > My hope
for Oprah, and the millions who struggle just like her every day, is > that
they have the courage and the time and the space to take a breath and > form a
helpful game plan-a game plan that encompasses a lot more than calories > and
food choices. > Emotional eaters thrive and succeed with a game plan that is
individualized > and that honors their unique relationship with food, their
vulnerabilities, > their needs and their strengths. My hope for Oprah and all
emotional eaters is > that they are working with someone who is able to help
them step back from > their frustration and shame and self blame and approach
this issue with a > helpful dose of creativity and curiosity. > There is a way
out of the emotional eating trap, but shame and guilt and > self-blame will
slam the door in your face. I hope that Oprah has a coach or a > mentor who is
helping her honor the strengths and the abilities and resources > she already
has and is guiding her in creating new tools and ways of coping. > I hope that
Oprah finds a solution that lasts, both for her, and for the many > who also
live with weight loss struggles and who wake up many mornings mad at >
themselves and feeling hopeless and like they've failed. Whether she likes it
> or not, the world is watching. I know that Oprah knows that her struggle is
> not only about food and that focusing on the food is much too superficial. I
> wish that all the people commenting on it and covering the "story" did too.
> )Melissa McCreery, Ph.D. All rights reserved.Suzy Zabel - LeaderTOPS MD #423
> Westminster, MD Dieting is like riding a bike, either you are moving
forward, > or you're falling off. If you are a Christian and would like to
receive a > daily dieting devotional, go to: >
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DevotionsForDieters/?v=1&t=search&ch=web
> &pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1 >
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