Diets Don't Work - But What Does?

By Jill K Thomas

Going on a diet is a little bit like taking an Advil for a broken arm. Sure if it works it might take the pain away for a little while but it won't heal the underlying problem. Overeating and the resulting weight gain is a symptom of a problem, not a problem itself -- though it does cause a great deal of pain.

People are not overweight because they ate too much pizza and too many donuts. They are overweight because they have unhealed emotional pain that drives them to eat as a way to change how they feel. In that respect overeating really isn't that different than using drugs, drinking alcohol to excess, or even overspending. All of those activities are generally done as a way of not feeling something you are not ready to feel or handling emotions that you are not equipped to handle. So when you are doing them it's usually a sign that you are trying not to feel something.

This is the main reason why most diets do not produce long-term results. If you go on a diet without handling the underlying emotional issues that drove you to eat in the first place, you might have some success, maybe even get down to your goal weight or close, but in the end, almost everyone who loses weight by dieting gains it all back and usually much more quickly than they took it off.

I call it the diet-bounce because, in my observation, the quicker you lose it, the quicker you gain it back again, usually with interest.

So if I can't diet, what do I do?

Well, that question will take a long time to answer but I will give you two bits of advice.

1) Work on healing the emotional pains that are driving you to overeat in the first place. It's not a quick fix but not only will it work, it will solve more problems in your life than you can even know.

2) In my experience diets don't work but lifestyle changes do. People who shift from the lifestyle of excess and being unhealthy to making a real effort to create optimal health for themselves and their families do achieve major success. Though just like healing emotional pain, it's not an easy or a short road, but it does have long term success. This means cleaning up your diet, the unhealthy relationships in your life and for a lot of people using more health conscious and environmentally friendly products in their homes.

For permanent change you have to fix what's really broken not just what hurts. If you don't you will surely gain the weight back. If you do manage to quit the habit of emotional eating without healing the underlying emotional pain, you might switch from food to something even more destructive like alcohol, drugs, or overspending and getting hooked on those problems will make you wish you had just learned to be OK with that extra 20 pounds.

Love yourself and heal what's really hurt, not just what you see in the mirror.

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