Newswise — Dozens of weight-loss books dot the best-seller lists, and the airwaves are thick with advertisements for weight-loss solutions. But in spite of these purported 'answers,' the number of overweight Americans continues to grow. According to recent statistics, two-thirds of us are overweight and one-third are considered obese " weighing at least 100 pounds over acceptable standards.
The reason for this 'overeating frenzy,' as Marilyn Migliore, M.S., R.D., C.S.W., a U-M Health System cardiovascular nutritionist/social worker puts it, is our emotional attachment to food.
"Many people use food as their 'drug of choice'," she explains. "People use food as a sedative, a tranquilizer or an analgesic. And, many people actually use food to emotionally beat themselves up."
In her book, "The Hunger Within," Migliore explores the mind-body connection to compulsive overeating " how the very thought of food or eating elicits responses in the brain that can stimulate the drive to eat.
Like many, Susan Heist battled her weight for years using common excuses such as stress or anger for her overeating. "And then the weight kind of snuck up on me," she recalls. "I remember walking into a store, and it had glass all around. I thought 'who's that fat girl,' and when I got up closer, it was me. I realized then I was out of control."
According to Migliore, Heist's destructive eating wasn't due to simple stress or anger, but rather it was prompted by her emotional brain's primitive, insatiable quest to fill an unmet emotional need " otherwise known as 'the hunger within.' She says this internal hunger stems from negative messages received in childhood about food, body image and self esteem. "These early messages form the basis of our core belief system, which plays itself out in a programmed pattern of behavior known as one's 'script,'" Migliore explains.
"Let's take potato chips as an example. If potato chips were considered 'forbidden fruit,' and restricted during childhood, some individuals will begin to exhibit a specific behavioral pattern in relation to potato chips" says Migliore. "If that's the case, when that person gets his hands on this restricted food item you may find him sneaking or hiding the food, or eating it secretively while immersed in feelings of guilt and shame. That is a reenactment of a scene from their script.
"If reenacting the script leads the person to feel guilt, shame and self-loathing, then their behavior becomes both emotionally and physically destructive," she continues. After reading "The Hunger Within," Heist came to realize that her excuses for compulsively eating " stress, anger " had deeper roots. "They were caused by my core beliefs " something I picked up from my family early on before I could even think 'is this true, is this not true, and most importantly, is this even about me?'," she says.
While overeating and compulsive eating may appear similar to the casual observer, Migliore says compulsive eating is 'a cake of a different batter.'
"During the holidays we overeat, we overindulge. We're probably eating foods we wouldn't normally eat, and we feel stuffed," she explains. "When someone compulsively overeats, he's enacting the emotional script from childhood. The compulsive eater becomes disconnected from the 'here and now' and reconnected to a whole set of unconscious links between food and feelings."
In her 12-week, workbook-based program, Migliore helps compulsive eaters identify and challenge the belief system that is driving their script and their unhealthy behavior.
"Keep in mind, these are early decisions " little kid decisions " that are typically very irrational and easily challenged," she says. "So when we begin to challenge the belief system, we begin to weaken the structure of the script and, by doing so, we begin to subdue the feelings and behaviors associated with the script."
The book guides readers through an intensive program to unlock the psychological barriers to permanent weight loss. The step-by-step approach explores the core reasons for overeating, identifies the triggers that precipitate a binge and helps break the vicious cycle of emotional eating.
"What's been interesting about the journey for me," says Heist. "is that most of my eating behavior has nothing to do with reality. It's all based on an illusion that I myself created. So the journey " figuring why I was eating uncontrollably " has been very interesting. And just asking myself a simple question before I put something in my mouth, 'what function does this food serve for me in this moment,' has changed my life dramatically."
"People can change their eating behaviors by first identifying the function that food serves for them," explains Migliore. "Oddly enough, physical hunger is not what drives many of us to eat in this day and age. We've used food for so many other reasons, and we've been distracted by so many external cues, that many of us have lost touch with the ability to know when our body really needs to be refueled."
Migliore cites studies that show, when left to their own devices, small children will eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full. The problem, she says, is that as these children become exposed to the belief systems of their families and society, they begin to see food in a different light.
The goal of Migliore's program is to take the focus off of food and weight. "Dieting feeds the obsession and exacerbates the problem our nation is struggling with in relationship to food, body weight and eating," she says. "In many cases, people use dieting as a way to beat themselves up " once again, a reenactment of their script. They may be left feeling deprived over time and then just throw in the towel leading to a sense of hopelessness."
Of course, many other factors play a role in America's obesity epidemic as well, including lack of activity and rising rates of depression. "Experts used to think that a person who is overweight becomes depressed as a result of being overweight," says Migliore. "Now they're beginning to find that many of us are feeding our depression with food.
"I strongly believe the only way to grapple with this problem of compulsive eating and obesity is to begin to understand the underlying psychological forces " the psychological 'hunger' -- fueling our destructive eating behaviors," she continues.
After losing 20 pounds on the 12-week program and another 15 since, Heist feels 'free from food.'
"I don't place any importance on food anymore," she says. "So if I eat, I eat, and if I don't, I don't " I'm free from the stigma of food."
Facts on obesity:
-More than 60 percent of Americans aged 20 years and older are overweight.-One-third of American adults are obese.-Approximately 280,000 adult deaths in the United States each year are related to obesity.-Obesity is more than a cosmetic problem; it is a health hazard. Several serious medical conditions are linked to obesity including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers. Gallbladder and liver disease, osteoarthritis, gout, pulmonary problems and reproductive problems are also linked to obesity.
For more information, visit the following web sites:
U-M Health Topics A-Z: Gross Obesityhttp://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_gross_crs.htm
U-M Your Child: Obesity and Overweighthttp://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/obesity.htm
U-M CVC: Nutrition Serviceshttp://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/adult/prenut.htm
NIDDK: Understanding Adult Obesityhttp://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/pubs/unders.htm
CDC: Overweight and Obesityhttp://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/index.htm
The Hunger Within Workshop, a nationally recognized workshop, is facilitated by Marilyn Migliore, M.S., R.D., C.S.W., author of The Hunger Within: A Twelve-week Self-Guided Journey from Compulsive Eating to Recovery. Broadway Books, 1998.
Written by Maria White
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