Q. I have been overweight most of my life and really want to lose the weight. I don’t want to go on yet another diet, only to fail. I have read that it’s a good idea to eat only when I’m hungry and stop eating when I’m full. This makes sense but after spending most of my life eating way too much, how do I know when I’m hungry or when I’m full? How do I know what I really want to eat?
A. I completely understand the frustration you are feeling. I spent the majority of my life extremely overweight. I have lost 130 pounds and have maintained that weight loss for almost five years. Congratulations on not just starting another diet program!! Dieting will only provide temporary relief. Good nutrition and emotional health will set you on a path to lifelong contentment.
The main reason most diets fail is that we just transfer our focus on food to our focus on dieting and/or exercise. Until we look at the real reasons we overeat dieting won’t work. The emotions that drive us to eat must be addressed. I would encourage you to keep an emotional eating journal for a few weeks. Each time you eat, no matter what it is, write down what you are feeling before, during and after the food consumption and include the type of food. Within a few weeks you will begin to recognize the emotions and situations that are driving you to overeat. Often true hunger is something we have ignored for so many years that it may take several months before you will be able to recognize physical hunger as compared to emotional hunger. Once you have begun to distinguish the two, you can then learn to fill the emotional hunger in a healthier, more satisfying why that doesn’t involve food at all. You will then be able to watch the pounds melt away.