Gratitude Heals

A lesson I learned over the years is that by being grateful for the small things I do or the small things that happen to me the better my life gets. Lately, my observations have been backed by science. Researchers in the field of positive psychology are proving that gratitude heals.  [Check out the work of Robert A. Emmons, PhD if you’re as interested in the science as I am.] You can apply the benefits of gratitude to your weight loss efforts. Each day take a few moments to reflect on what you are grateful for as it relates to your weight loss.  Here are 5 ideas ways to get you started:

1. Be grateful to the local markets for the fresh healthy foods that are plentiful and easy to obtain.
2. Be grateful to yourself for each action you take that supports your weight loss, for example, writing down you food in your food diary.
3. Be grateful for the knowledge you are obtaining about your relationship with food by reading blogs, books and other sources of information.
4. Be grateful for your body’s innate wisdom and desire to be healthy.
5. Be grateful that you can lose weight even if the weight loss is slower than you desire.

Until next time, in gratitude,
Dr. Sheila

Does Boredom Make You Fat?

Hi! I thought you might find this interesting. In the January/February 2015 edition of the Nutrition Action Health Letter (published by the Center for Science in the Pubic Interest) there was a short article about a study done in Holland which looked at the relationship between boredom and eating.

In that study (published in the journal Appetite 85:52, 2015,) 60 young men and women were shown a 1 hour documentary about a Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist and told they could eat as many M&M candies as they wanted to while watching the film. The film was shown to them on two days. On the first day they were shown the full 1 hour documentary, however, on the second day they were shown an 85 second clip from the film over and over again for an hour. Not surprisingly the young men and women ate twice as many M&M’s on the second day than on the first. Lesson learned: the more interesting your activity, the less you will eat! Good to know!

For more information on the Nutrition Action Health Letter go to www.cspinet.org.

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila

Eliminate the Eight Emotional Obstacles to Permanent Weight Loss

My new book The Best Diet Begins in Your Mind is a crash course in overcoming emotional overeating. It offers a straight-forward approach to getting on the road to permanent weight loss. Relying on the idea that there are two kinds of hunger – physical and emotional, you will learn to identify the eight emotional reasons why you eat and be given tools for addressing each of them. Whether you are currently dieting, thinking about starting a diet or not dieting at all, this book can help you eliminate the emotional obstacles to weight loss and get you on your way to the weight you are meant to be.  It is available now on kindle and as a paperback on amazon.com. I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila

 

 

The Big Secret Successful People Know

You struggle with your weight but a friend doesn’t. You joined a weight loss program and met people who lost weight and kept it off but you can’t. You see people having what you want in your life but can’t seem to obtain. What is the difference between you and those successful people? You may not like the answer but here it is. The biggest difference between people who succeed at their goals (be it weight loss, finding their soul mate or starting a business) and those who don’t is that successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are reluctant to do! What??? It’s true. Let’s look at this idea a little bit closer.

You want to lose weight BUT are you willing to do EVERYTHING you need to do to achieve that goal? That means, for example, skipping extra servings, exercising instead of watching television, and dealing with your emotions instead of eating over them. Sure, successful people aren’t perfect but they are consistent and persistent, and you can be too!

Make a list of the actions that you need to do on a regular basis to achieve one of your goals. Choose one of those actions and for the next 30 days do it – no excuses, no conditions, no flaking. Do it and see what happens in your life. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised.

You too can embrace the big secret of successful people. Start now!

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila

Welcome to my blog!

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'm Dr. Sheila Forman. I am a clinical psychologist specializing in helping people eliminate the emotional obstacles that prevent them from achieving their ideal weight. I have a private psychotherapy practice in Santa Monica, California and I do coaching with clients all over the world. To get started on your journey to ending emotional overeating, you may enjoy my checking out my books.

The Best Diet Begins in Your Mind – Eliminate the Eight Emotional Obstacles to Permanent Weight Loss, is my most recent book. It is a crash course in identifying eight emotions that may lead to you overeat and what to do about them.

Do You Use Food to Cope? A Comprehensive 15- Week Program for Overcoming Emotional Overeating  is a week-by-week approach to understanding your relationship between food and emotions and how to heal it.

Lastly, in Self-fullness: The Art of Loving and Caring for Your ‘Self"’ you will learn how to build your sense of self-worth and self-esteem by making it okay to put yourself first without feeling guilty. There is a chapter on eating in this book too.

All my books are available on amazon.com.

If you choose to read my books please tell me what you think about them. Also let me know if I missed something you are interested in learning about. I'm working on my next book so I will keep your ideas in mind and I will be updating this blog regularly with ideas, tips and suggestions to help you overcome emotional overeating and create the life you  want.

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila