Eric G. Schneider

This weekend I have been catching up with Oprah's best life series...this one particular episode was really something...it was on weight loss.

Oprah seems to believe that all issues around weight are just emotional...that they are about self-love...well they are not!

There are many reasons why people gain weight, have trouble losing weight and often lose weight and put it right back on. The fact that Oprah was not "taking" care of herself does not surprise me, nor should it you. When you know what your life is about you just go and live it.  Actually self-forgetting does not mean you do not love yourself.

Ok...back to the eating issues...in my opinion there two kinds of eaters:

Emotional eaters: eat no matter what emotions they are feeling. This is because they use food as a substitute for real need getting. Emotional eaters often eat as a way of self-medicating because certain feelings are too hard to endure.

Then there are the people who could care less about food: They are the ones that have poor eating habits. Could eat just one meal a day and that would be it...(this would be me) This then really does a number on your metabolism: it slows way way down and can cause other endocrine problems. In both cases there can also be an energy issue.

When you have not eaten all day, your body and BRAIN crave energy. I can promise you, your brain is not going to reach out for a chicken breast. It wants its carbs and sugars now!!!

So does it all boil down to Self-Love? If you want it to it can...it also has to do with conditioning, homeostasis, endocrine issues and often requires a more complex approach then a simple narrative like self-love.

Personally, I am tired of this over-simplified and often dumbed down approach to life. Life is complex and why we do what we do is often complex and if we overlook the complexity we can miss important information that needs to be dealt with in order for us to succeed.

While I appreciate Oprah's candor, her narrative, her experience and the way she explains it is just not the way it is for everyone.

If you are struggling with weight, work with a variety of professionals who can help you with the complexity of this kind of issue!