Now before I get a firestorm of emails from Oprah lovers let’s make sure you understand why I am happy.
I am happy because she is finally admitting that the crazy weight loss programs she has been on in the past such as the liquid protein diet is all a bunch of garbage.
Unfortunately she has had a lot of people on her show giving her bad advice instead of finding out why she has a problem controlling her weight.
She explains in an interview that she is a food addict.
Ok, now anyone worth their salt and expertise would focus on that instead of trying to put her on the next miracle diet.
If she would have asked me for help that would have been one of the first questions I asked her after she told me that she has been on dozens of diets over the past 15 years.
You first have to stick to the tried and true principles of weight loss. The principles of healthy eating that you can stick to for life. Then once you have those down you work on the problem areas of your program. In Oprah’s case it is an addiction to food.
Don’t attempt to do it all at once and don’t think you are going to be perfect.
Oprah mentioned in this interview that she is no longer trying to be thin, but rather strong, healthy and fit.
With that attitude not only will she achieve her goals, but she will also be thin as a result of being realistic in her goals.
Oprah if you ever need to talk about this and your addiction to food please give me a call.
Yours in health,
Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS
America’s Trusted Weight Loss Expert
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Tags: lose weight fast, oprah, oprah winfrey, yo-yo dieting, yo-yo diets
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Once a person decides that they are just going to stop with all the negativity and put their mind to becoming healthy and fit, then in my opinion that is half the battle..it worked for me. I researched articles about foods, about exercises. I had a plan and just did it, I changed the way I ate, joined a gym and realized the seriousness of the situation before me. At the age of 52 I am in way better shape than I have ever been, I find peace in working out..and feel better about myself, not only because I have lost weight and inches, but my mindset is different. While not ever having an addiction to food, I may have an addiction to exercising, I love it!
Jayson,
What are your thoughts about food addiction? Is there any research on it? Is it purely emotional?
Jim Labadie
http://GetPrograde.com/blog
There have been some attempts to study this, but to my knowledge there has been nothing significant to say that food addiction is a physical problem such as a heroin or cocaine habit.
When you don’t constantly eat food you don’t go into the shakes or have physical withdrawals like you would with certain drug addictions or substance addictions.
With that being said food is an emotional comfort and not a physical addiction.
Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS
My very limited understanding of food addicition is from personal reference. When I began the Carb Rotation Diet a couple of months ago, even though I reduced the amount and types of carbs I consumed for two days before going “no carb” on the third day, I still went through what I can only call withdrawals. No, I wasn’t shaking or going through drug addiction symptoms, but I was definitely not myself. I was tired, I was cranky, I generally did not feel well physcially. I had a bad headache, which I virtually never have. For me, getting off the sugar/starch carbs is truly a withdrawal process. And once I’m off those and on a healthy program with the whole grain bread or pasta as my carbs, I not only feel better, I don’t get hungry nearly as often. For me, I seem to crave food – and bad carbs, at that! – when I’m off the wagon, so to speak. So, to that end, I do think there are physical symptoms that cause me to feel “addiction prone” when it comes to some foods.
With that said, it’s appropriate for me to examine why, in the past, knowing that information I continued to eat those less than healthy foods. I’m delighted Oprah has come clean with her perception of what’s realistic for her based on some life-changing paradigm shifts. Hopefully, this will bring about even more dialogue and support for others.
Jan you bring up a good point that I want to elaborate on. You mention eating the healthy whole grain carbs instead of the sugary more processed carbs.
Eating the healthier carbs makes a big difference because you don’t get the insulin spikes and crashes that you typically do when you eat heavily processed carbs.
Whole grain carbs give you protein and fiber which helps you control those roller coaster rides with your blood sugar. You can feel physical symptoms when your blood sugars are jumping all around like that. That isn’t an addiction though, but rather an imbalance of the nutrients you consume.
When you adjust the types of calories you eat such as replacing the refined sugars/carbs with whole-grain carbs, vegetables, etc you don’t have those blood sugars roller coaster rides and you don’t feel as hungry as you mentioned above.
Eating lean protein will also help you control those blood sugar rides and keep your body feeling fuller for a longer period of time without the energy crashes that too much sugar causes.
Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS
Anytime I eat a lot of sugary foods, like chocolate, I notice stronger and stronger cravings. If I keep going, eating a lot of these foods for a long period of time I do reach a point where it is like an addiction and I have a lot of difficulty stopping. I actually have to put myself through a withdrawl, suffering headaches, etc. It only lasts a few days so I wouldn’t equate it to a drug or alcohol addiction, but in my experience, I would definitely say that there is a reaction that takes place that mimics an addictive reaction.
Jim, you asked about food addiction. I’ve taught a course for Bastyr University’s naturopathic physician training program on Addictions that included eating disorders (including binge eating disorder, anorexia, and bulimia, but I also included general compulsive overeating). I want to point out that when we say it’s “just” emotional it’s important to realize that emotions are extremely tied to physiology. Food addiction may not include withdrawal symptoms per se, but there are some brain chemistry issues involved, in particular the neuropeptide and monoamine (especial 5-HT) systems, dopamine, GABA, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Even behavioral addictions like gambling and shopping have associated brain chemistry elements involved.
All emotions are essentially chemicals, right?