5 Causes of Overeating—
Finding SOULutions...

By Joan Hitlin

Here's a hint: if it's called a diet, it won't work ... because diets are things that you go on, and then you go off. What will work for you are SOULutions that come from a deep place in your soul — and not from a book, or a guru, or a one-size-fits-all program. The path to wholeness is different for each person — it requires co-creativity and persistence to find your right SOULutions.

The following are five problems that lead to overweight. The list is not all-inclusive, but in my 30 years of experience as a weight loss counselor, almost all of them are present when someone has chronic problems with weight, eating or body image.

 • Problem #1: MISSING MOjOTIVITY®

Mojotivity is what you've got when your mojo — energy, life-force and vitality — fuels your creativity, productivity, connectivity and spirituality. When your mojo goes missing, or when it isn't firing up your best qualities, then you have a hole in your soul. Because this emptiness longs to be filled, you crave food as a misplaced attempt to become full-filled.

 • Problem #2: EMOTIONAL ESCAPISM

Since it can be really hard to handle strong feelings, you probably try to avoid not only strong unwanted feelings — like boredom, anger, sadness, anxiety — you may also avoid strong positive emotions —like excitement or joy. What we call emotional eating is an attempt to divert our attention from feelings that seem to be too much to handle.

 • Problem #3: THE SEE-FOOD DIET

"I see, therefore I want" describes impulsive eating brought about by the sight and smell of food. I used to be a choco-holic: if chocolate was around, it wasn't around for long. Now I can keep chocolate in my pantry so long it sometimes goes stale. You too can learn to look right through tempting foods, almost as if they weren't there!

 • Problem #4: GOT ISSUES?

The more you work on and unwind your deepest issues, the less stress you carry ... and the less stress you carry, the less you depend on food as self-medication. Any unresolved issue can remain a trigger for anxious eating, or it can become potential energy, guiding you toward your next transformational step.

 • Problem #5: MYTHS CAN BE FATTENING

The thing about myths is that they sound right, but they're actually wrong, and believing in them can cause serious problems. Here are a few fattening food myths: fat makes you fat, low-fat makes you thin, calories count, it's all about genes, metabolism is immobile, and diets do work.

Shift happens. It requires finding SOULutions that satisfy deep INNER cravings, instead of surface cravings. In my practice I use a wide variety of effective healing techniques, and I teach my clients to use these techniques on their own, especially when they have out-of-control eating urges.

Related Articles:

In Search Of the Perfect Diet
No Perfect Diet by Joel Lopez, MD
Lifelong Vegetarian - Interview With Dixie Mahy
Using Hypnosis to Recover Healthy Eating by Jessica Levine
The Soul Of Eating... A Path to True Nourishment by Premsiri Lewin
The Roadmap to Your Perfect Diet by Nan Faass
The Herbivore's Enigma... by K. Stiles Bingham

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