Rasslin with my Fat Self

Notes from Shrink Yourself:

I want to lose weight in order to:

prevent future health problems.

fit into clothes better.

have a sense of accomplishment and control.

feel better physically.

have more energy.

be more attractive to my significant other.

prove to people I can lose weight.

have a better self-esteem.

relieve some of my moodiness, depression or anxiety.

make some hard decisions about the course of my life.

make my life feel like its going somewhere.

have more day-to-day fun.

better handle the ups and downs of life.

feel less burdened by responsibilities.

be more independent.

be less critical of myself.

stop envying the life that others have.

be more free of doubts and fears.

feel more deserving of the good things I have in life.

shed some of my shyness or discomfort around people.

stop food from being a source of conflict in my life.


I want to keep eating like I do because:
food is my best friend and I don't think I can give up eating the way I do.

my life would be too intense without eating what I want.

I would be too depressed without sweets, chocolate, or snacks.

I need food to get rid of my negative feelings.

food calms me down when I'm angry or frustrated.

when I'm lonely food makes me feel better.

since I can't be perfect it feels like there's no point to dieting.

it helps me quiet my inner-critic.

I just love junk food and the feeling it gives me.

eating less would make me feel too deprived.

it feels like I need the reward of food to be happy.

overeating is the only way I know how to make myself stop feeling empty inside.

when I hate my job food gets me through the day.

when life gets too stressful food provides a quick escape.

I am always taking care of everyone and food is my reward.

I have regrets about my unfulfilled potential and eating helps me deal with it.

food feels like my protection.

I don't want anybody or anything to stop me from eating what I want.

being overweight makes me feel safe.

food, or being overweight, excuses me from challenging myself.

I have too many frustrations now and food is the only thing that lets me feel in control.

being overweight protects me from unwanted sexual attention.


Another exercise:
Your Emotional Eating Pattern

Here's what you said:

When Michael ignores me, it hurts because I feel insecure. When I feel this way I tend to respond by binging in private. However after the temporary relief I get from this fades, I feel like a failure.



What does this pattern tell us? First, it indicates that you are engaged in a vicious cycle. You eat to make yourself feel better when Michael upsets you, but you end up making yourself feel worse, which makes you want to eat so you can feel better. This sort of cycle won't end by itself.

However, by being so specific, you can begin to develop ways to break this pattern. You can see that in order to break this pattern, you need to find new ways of dealing with Michael when he ignores you and that you need to practice new ways of dealing with the self-doubt that makes you feel insecure. We know that you will also have to figure out why you feel so helpless that the only thing you can think about doing is eating. That's where we can be the most help.

This is exactly what Shrink Yourself and I will help you do. We will help you examine your Emotional Eating patterns in detail, and then help you develop specific, practical ways to break them and turn off your Hunger Switch. That's the Shrink Yourself method and that's the way to really succeed.

I am going to do this. It's $120 for a year.