- It’s Not About Dieting, But What’s in It for Y-O-U
- Ingratiation Dieting
- You Have to Be Selfish
- Poor Self-Confidence
- Control, Fear and Sex
- The Need for Dieting Ownership
In my work with women who experience despair and conflict in their relation to food, I have found that in the first hour they talk about eating. By the second hour they tell me they feel confused and do not know what to do with their lives. They have little sense of who they are or what they believe. They are lost, empty, restless, confused and dissatisfied. They are struggling with questions of identity their mothers also faced.Kim Chernin, The Hungry Self
Know Thyself. This advice hails from the ancients and still boasts modern practicality. As shallow as it seems, we do tie our self-concept to our appearance. To deny this would invite self-delusion. The problem with our image arises not from the image itself, but from how we choose to interpret it. Most often we simplify the meanings of our looks as author Paula Caplan points out in The Myth of Women’s Masochism. Meaning, if you are thin, that’s all you are, and if you are fat, that’s all you are.
Dieting success starts with resolving an identity crisis. If you want to get your diet in order you need to figure out who you are, who you want to
be, and what is stopping you from becoming this person.
In a USA Today article, internal medicine specialist Brendan Montano exposes several unresolved identity crises that lock people into overweight bodies. Montano finds that dieters’ self-defeating behaviors are linked to fears of certain activities and reluctance to examine parts of their lives. For instance, a person may fear physical activity and her own sexuality.
Montano explains that a successful diet involves lifestyle changes and an improvement in your self-confidence. Moreover, getting this dieting thing right means understanding who you are, what you want and why you want it.
In a USA Today article, internal medicine specialist Brendan Montano exposes several unresolved identity crises that lock people into overweight bodies. Montano finds that dieters’ self-defeating behaviors are linked to fears of certain activities and reluctance to examine parts of their lives. For instance, a person may fear physical activity and her own sexuality.
Montano explains that a successful diet involves lifestyle changes and an improvement in your self-confidence. Moreover, getting this dieting thing right means understanding who you are, what you want and why you want it.