Q: What is emotional hunger?
A:Emotional hunger is thinking that food makes us feel better. It is longing for food whenever there is any discomfort in our emotional state. Emotional hunger is using food to satisfy needs that are not being fulfilled in other ways. It is being more attuned with how food will make us feel than with our emotions. It is wanting to satisfy loneliness, boredom, shame, the blues, and any other emotions with food.
Emotional hunger is equating celebration with food. For many of us it is the way that we know how to express love — the hard work of cooking a grand meal and sharing this meal from the heart, wanting our love ones to experience the pleasure of eating.
Emotional hunger is being able to get connect with people only when we are all eating. Emotional hunger is getting up in the middle of the night and bargaining with the demons of hunger. How many times did I get up in the middle of the night unable to sleep and the only thing I knew to get back to sleep was to stuff myself so the work of digestion would make me drowsy.
Emotional hunger is not having the ability to choose healthy options for our sustenance. It is being totally oblivious to how many calories we are actually consuming in one day. It is having the attitude of “Frankly, Scarlet, I don’t give a damn,” I need to get this report done or deal with the issues or just feel better right now, and food is what allows us me to feel better, to function in life. Emotional hunger is being mesmerized by a little piece of bread left on the plate. Emotional hunger is salivating about every small morsel of food before we taste it. It is feeling comforted by food. It is over excitement at the aroma and taste of pizza. It is feeling satiated only after our stomach has gone past its physical limit. It is believing that we will feel better if we have an extra piece of cheesecake. It is dealing with the ups and downs of life with food.
Food is the celebration. It is taking a work break by eating something. It is measuring the traumas of life by what is being consumed. It is driving home after a five-course gourmet dinner and thinking “What am I going to eat when I get home?” Emotional hunger is knowing that Mr. Häagen Dazs™ is going to make me feel sooo good, so comforted, when I get home. Emotional hunger is thinking that food makes us feel better. Emotional hunger is only knowing how to celebrate with food. For many of us it is the way that we know how to express love — the hard work of cooking a grand meal and sharing from the heart. It is only having the ability to get connected with people when we are eating. It is longing for food whenever there is imbalance in our emotional state. Emotional hunger is using food to satisfy needs that are not being fulfilled in other ways. It is being more attuned with how food will make us feel than with our emotions. It is wanting to satisfy loneliness, boredom, shame, the blues, and any other emotions. Emotional hunger is getting up in the middle of the night and bargaining with the demons of hunger. How many times did I get up in the middle of the night unable to sleep and the only thing I knew to get back to sleep was to stuff myself so the work of digestion would make me drowsy.
Q: Why is "The End of Diets" different from other weight management programs?
A: There are 52 million Americans on a diet, yet only 3% are achieving long-term weight loss success. Every year more and more Americans are classified as overweight and every year the average American dieter spends hundreds of dollars in the hopes of obtaining the one piece of information that will help them overcome their issue. What is changing is that Americans are finally realizing that the quick-fix, miracle schemes have been tried and have led to lots of disappointment. Readers are finally seeking the real truth about their overeating. Readers are not looking for regurgitated versions of existing data. They want fresh, honest insight about how they can finally achieve long term solution without gimmicks and hype.
"The End of Diets" is not about more food information. Most Americans are aware of the approximate caloric, fat and carbohydrate content of most food categories.
"The End of Diets" is not about more dietary or exercise options. The diet industry is currently at $38.9 Billion/year, and it has a 4.8% growth rate. There are hundreds of diets and exercise programs. An additional diets or a different exercise program is not going to help.
The issue is not lack of desire, will-power or external motivation. A very small percentage of overweight persons lack a profound desire to lose weight. People who don't understand the addictive behavior cite will-power, exercise, smaller portions as the solution to our national epidemic. There is however a high degree of disillusionment as many overweight people have attempted nutrition and exercise programs with no long term success.
"The End of Diets: Healing Emotional Hunger" is first understanding what is emotional hunger. Why will-power, exercise and diet based solutions don't work for an emotional eater. The physiology of emotions, how we process emotions in our bodies. How emotional eaters use food to cope with the ups and downs of life, and more importantly, the options, tools available to eradicate the emotional hunger once and for all. This book, this program, provide the answers that anyone serious about losing weight hungers for. The book is not written from a clinical point of view. It is written by someone whose life was dominated by this issue and someone who struggled and attempted many, many diets before she discovered the issues, the truth and the option to end this insidious behavior.
This is not a diet book; it is a personal epiphany and guide for real personal growth!
Q: Can everyone be successful in this program?
A: No, ending emotional overeating is not a journey for anyone still seduced by the promise of “in a few weeks, you will be thin and can then experience total bliss.” This is a journey about experiencing all the disappointment of the empty promises and blaming ourselves for their failures. This is a journey about being totally disappointed and exhausted and surrendering to the possibility of being with our emotions, about finally being willing to be with ourselves.
Q: What are the personality traits that are necessary to be successful in this program?
A: We are all human. Our humanity entails that we bleed, that we have needs, that we are encouraged or discouraged by the people and events in our lives. If our emotional needs are not being met, it is only natural that our self-esteem is affected. If the foundation that allows us to undertake a transformational program is not present, then we are just setting ourselves up for failure, which will then lead to lower self-esteem. It would make more sense to work on meeting our emotional needs and bolstering our emotional collateral before embarking on The End of Diets program. In fact, most of the psychology community believes that without having these bases covered we cannot achieve long-term progress toward any emotional growth, and ultimately losing the weight is one of the most profound emotional growths that we will experience. It is only to your detriment if you cannot be brutally honest with yourself when answering these questions.
Q: How is yoga used in "The End of Diets" program?
A: Because our emotions are stored in our bodies as energies, it is critical to have the body’s emotional centers and energy conduits balanced, open and flowing. The openness and fluidity of our bodies’ emotional energies allow us to have access to our emotions. In the case of buried emotional trauma, we also need a means to release these repressed energies. Yoga, in my personal experience and the opinion of many experts, is the most effective means of clearing the energy channels that allows our emotions to flow unencumbered. There are at least sixteen million Americans who practice yoga on a regular basis. Many do it strictly because of yoga’s healing benefit or as an exercise practice to cure their arthritis, loosen stiffness around the body, and restore loss of muscle tones. Others simply do it because yoga makes them feel better all over. If you have never done yoga or if you have a preconception of what yoga is, please read this section with an open mind until the very end. In this section, we are going to illustrate specific yoga postures that help open and keep clear the five chakras where most of the emotions that lead us to overeating are held.
Q: How is meditation used in "The End of Diets" program?
A: Until the mind is quiet, it is the self-appointed king of problem solving, the central switchboard of all processing--the Grand Central Station where all emotional discomfort is addressed. When the mind is in control, it attempts to process our emotions and disrupts our ability to sit with them. First it confuses emotions that emanate from our bodies as discomfort, and because we are not allowed to experience any discomfort, it finds a way of dealing with that discomfort, in our case by projecting the illusion that food will spare us. I had finally understood why it was that my mind couldn't conquer this addiction. It never occurred to me that it was the very mechanism that was interfering with my ability to get in touch with my emotions.
Q: Why is breathing important in "The End of Diets" program?
A: Breathing, when done correctly, can aid us in getting in touch with our emotions. Through my research I've discovered that shallow breathing interferes with the flow of emotions. I was so ashamed of my stomach because it didn't meet social standards that I spent a lot of time holding it in; it became second nature to have a constricted stomach. In doing so I stopped breathing deeply. Even in situations where I was supposed to breath deeply, such as yoga work, my socialization was so ingrained that I had difficulty letting go of muscles that had been molded into unnatural constriction. When I started getting in touch with my emotions I noticed that my breathing began to change; it began to deepen.
Q: What else can I do beside buying the book?
A: The book contains all of the facts, figures, explanations of the dynamics that trigger emotional hunger, how likely you are to succeed in overcoming the food addiction, and 'The End of Diets' program. Additionally you can also leverage the support structure provided by 'The End of Diets' staff, and the additional support material available under the tape and support pages on this site. Once you have the information and you understand what you need to do you must make a commitment to yourself to follow the program and commit to eradicate this behavior from your life once and for all.
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