EATING DISORDERS AND OBESITY
Obesity is a complex issue in which a person’s weight gain seriously endangers their health. Obesity and weight related issues are a national, indeed a global problem fast becoming the number one reason why people seek help. Obesity is not just a matter of poor eating habits or lack of activity.
WHAT INFLUENCES OBESITY ?
Obesity is influenced by…
- Genetics
- Glands
- Inadequate Nutrition
- Lack of Physical Exercise
- Metabolism
- Poor Motivation
- Environmental
- Attitudes
- Body Image
- Lifestyle
- Medical Factors
WHAT CAUSES OBESITY ?
When we look at causes we can view them under two headings
The PUSH and PULL factors….
Advertising, behaviours, cultural factors, family factors, low self esteem,
Lifestyle, and stress can PUSH food into the body and Fat Genes (our genes lay down the amount of fat cells we have), glands, high set point(the weight at which your body effectively functions at), hungry fat cells, and metabolism all PULL food into the body !
Obesity is also viewed as a biological response to the way we live.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED OBESE ?
The WHO World Health Organisation suggest that a BMI (Body Mass Index) of….
20- 25 = Normal
25 - 30 = Overweight
30- 38/40 = Obese
40+ = Morbidly Obese
When a person’s bmi is over 25 the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 5 times greater and where a persons bmi is 30 the risk is 28 times greater.
SO WHY IS WEIGHT LOSS HARD ?
Weight Loss is hard for several reasons namely….
- Set Point Theory which is a biological mechanism that regulates our weight in our brain becomes compromised due to dieting or eating high sugar foods Each time we diet or restrict to much food or eat foods high in sugar, your weight thermostat rises as the brain senses starvation. This results in an individual eating more, hence weight increases.
- Studies done on rats showed on their first diet they took 21 days to lose a certain amount of weight and 45 days to regain it. On the next diet it took 46 days to lose the same amount of weight and 14 days to regain it ! Studies on humans show similar results ! This proves diets are the best training course you can go on to gain weight !
- Stats show 93% of people put the weight back on within 18 months and end up heavier !
- Quick Fix mentality also makes it hard to lose weight as people are desperate so they resort to desperate measures. This increases their sense of failure when the weight loss doesn’t happen quick enough or at all.
- No pain no gain mentality also brings the notion that exercise or activity has to hurt in order to be of value. A person then adopts a regime that simply isn’t sustainable and this results in the person giving up as they cannot remain motivated.
- Next is the ‘diet’ is wrong for the individual. Each person is different and each person has a different dieting history, body, lifestyle, etc.. so in order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to tailor your food plan to suit YOU !
- Eating for the wrong reasons is another reason why weight loss is hard. Many eat not in response to physical hunger but emotional hunger.
HOW DO I KNOW PHYSICAL HUNGER SIGNALS FROM EMOTIONAL HUNGER SIGNALS ?
PHYSICAL HUNGER
- Starts in the stomach
- Its very gradual
- Not necessarily for a specific food
- Arises due to a physical cue from the body for fuel
- Individual eats when they feel hungry and stop when they are full.
EMOTIONAL HUNGER
- Starts in the Mouth
- Its very fast
- Usually for a specific food
- Sometimes paired with a feeling (boredom/stress/comfort)
- Can involve automatic eating
- Individual tends not to stop when they feel full, if they in fact feel full at all
- Individual tends to have guilt/shame/out of control feelings around eating behaviour.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL HUNGER ?
Hunger can represent a variety of feelings, needs and desires. It is not the feelings that cause the emotional hunger but our attempt not to feel these feelings. In many cases we are not aware of what these feelings are, but what we do have is a feeling of tension in the body that we know will disappear if we eat something ! Feelings cannot be controller but fortunately BEHAVIOUR CAN ! Emotional literacy involves identifying acknowledging and accepting our feelings in a way that honours us. It means solving the problems we have with people instead of food. Some control feelings by restricting food as it is difficult to attend to other feelings when you are hungry. This behaviour with food is then serving a purpose. Others overeat and you can’t breathe properly with a full stomach, and if you can’t breathe then you can’t experience your feelings. Again this behaviour is serving a purpose.
You may not be able to control your feelings but you can control how you respond to them and how you express them. As you learn to respond to feelings in different ways the urges to starve, binge, overeat, and restrict subside considerably. You just need time, patience and an awareness of the purpose your behaviour with food is serving., Oh and what this behaviour means to you!
SO WHAT WORKS ?
Dealing with weight issues involves a 2 prong approach …
1. Exploring the relationship you have with food (purpose/pay off/ reasons/ triggers/ issues). And secondly
2. Implementing specific weight loss strategies (activity/ portion control/quality of food/lifestyle changes)
Diets don’t tend to work as they only target the eating behaviour and not the underlying triggers or habits which may be maintaining the behaviour.
WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT MAINTAINENCE INVOLVE…
- A holistic approach which addresses various domains and facets.
Domains necessary to be addressed are…
1. Lifestyle which includes home, work, personal situations, holidays, activity, behavioural interventions, readiness/motivation, skill building (assertiveness skills, communication skills, planning, problem solving skills, relaxation skills and stimulus control skills).
2. Physiology which includes our genes, blood sugar imbalances etc..
3. Nutrition which involves exploring your food world , your likes and dislikes, meanings and associations of certain foods, wisdoms about food, eating and weight, food challenges , cues for eating and feeling full, speed of eating, habits and cravings & urges.
4. Cognitive/Attitudes which includes beliefs and thoughts re food,body image, self esteem, weight, shape, others etc….
5. Emotional Eating which includes any feelings which are not being addressed due to your behaviour with food.
6. Lapse Prevention which involves learning to see a lapse coming so you have a choice to do something about it.
Many reading this will by now have realised that the they have not failed in the past, but that the diets failed them !
I believe the answer lies in changing the relationship you have with yourself in order to change the relationship you have with food.
For further information on workshops ‘Does Eating Rule your Life’ contact us:
Eating Disorder Resource Centre of Ireland
24 Glendoher Close, Ballyboden, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Phone 01 4953577
Mobile 087 2056560
Email info@eatingdisorders.ie
Website www.eatingdisorders.ie
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