How many
of you live life like this? Only someone who had spent their adult life
shifting from one diet to another will understand this concept. Many people
gain weight on certain occasions in life but lose it and don’t bother again.
However, for lifer's the psychological implications are enormous. In society
being labelled as obese is a recipe for shame for those who struggle both
practically and emotionally with the complex internal battle of weight. Slimming
clubs buy into this kind of shame, promising weight loss with support at a
price. Of course this works well for many but for some the loss is followed by
a gain because the root issue is not addressed.
Feeling ‘out
of control’ around food is not uncommon. It is a frightening place and
helplessness and panic can take over, there are considerable amounts of shame involved
in the awful way obese people are portrayed on the media. Generally seen to
be stuffing their faces with oversized burgers or pasties as they walk down the
street, or seen in front of a large fry up of carbohydrates. There is a sense
of distaste in the portrayal as if overweight people are too often seen as lazy or
stupid. There are those who make
simplistic statements like ‘just eat less’ and in truth that is probably right
but if it were that simple we wouldn’t be looking at an overweight
society. When it comes to eating
disorders most of us know about anorexia and bulimia but the most common condition
is compulsive eating. This is using food
to supress what is really going on emotionally for the individual. It becomes a
cycle of experience. Until this is addressed, for some the long term weight
loss will not be attained.
Where weight
is concerned there is a theory that defines an underlying imbalance within the
body and personality, it is considered that a physiological and emotional
change that is needed. Most slimming clubs tend to lean towards the
physiological rather than the psychological and emotional. Maybe to lose weight
the individual needs to become more accepting of self, physically, emotionally
and spiritually. A big question is for those who want to lose weight, what is
the motivation to lose weight? Answers need to be about the internal struggle
with food as friend or enemy. This battle with the self and the world in my view
is about self-esteem. To be imbalanced means there will be symptoms, for
example insomnia, constipation, fatigue and tension headaches. For some there
may be indications of slow digestion, lethargy and joint problems. Psychologically
there might be issues of self-loathing, anger and hopelessness. Many people lie
about the way they feel protesting that they don’t care about being fat but we
know deep within we do care. We all know the medical profession say there are
risks of cancer, diabetes and stroke but these are not symptoms they are
possible implications of obesity. However the scare approach does not work
until the inner reality is faced.
It is well
documented that the obese struggle against their bodies natural cravings,
fighting with an arsenal of weapons for example pills, diet clubs, fibre
supplements, diet books and fad diets all used spasmodically throughout life.
This way some lose huge amounts of weight but then sadly once they step off
this treadmill they regain. To me this does not mean that slimming clubs etc.
are successful it means they can help you lose weight but have not found a root
cause to the problem. In my experience of this process there is a tendency to
applaud the pounds off for each week’s class.
I have been disappointed by the reception my comments bring, whenever I mention
the possibility of emotional and psychological problems. I do think that attending clubs works, mainly
because of the camaraderie and the introduction of nutritional information but
each of us needs something that cannot be supplied on mass. Each of us needs to
look inside and ask ‘what do I need?’ ‘What needs to change in me so that I can
continue to eat less, stay sensible and feel less ashamed of who I am?
This article can only touch the surface of this issue and the nation’s problem of obesity;
we can applaud diet clubs for their education in relation to healthy eating. However diet alone will not change the key to
self-destruct where we begin quickly to regains what we lost. However for
anyone who is willing to seek some of the psychological and emotional issue
involved in compulsive eating I invite you to contact me in regards joining a
different kind of slimming group. You can speak to me on face book or write in the comments box.
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