MyWeightLossForLife.com

Why are you overweight?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. Why am I really overweight?

Of course, the simple answer is this: eating more calories than you burn makes you gain weight. That’s true, but it’s also not quite true at the same time. It doesn’t get to the heart of the problem.

You see, if it were as simple as eating less (or exercising more), losing weight would be a simple thing. If you’re like me and have struggled to lose weight, then you know that losing weight isn’t simple at all.

The real issue is this, why do I eat more calories than I burn?

There are a lot of answers to this one. Maybe you’re like me, and you’re a stress eater. I tend to associate food with comfort, so I eat when I’m not really hungry. Maybe you keep on the weight as a kind of barrier or shield from the world. Maybe you hate to exercise, or you have a health condition that keeps you from it.

Whatever the reasons for your weight problem, I’m convinced that as long as you see it as a simple matter of calories in and calories burned, you’re not going to be successful. People just aren’t that simple. If you’re overweight, you have a problem with your eating, and you have to examine the cause of the problem, not just try to treat the symptom.

So, here’s my challenge to you. Spend some time today thinking about how you relate to food.

• When do you overeat?
• What causes you to fall off your diet?
• How do you feel about yourself when you’re dieting? When you’re overeating?
• When did you first become overweight? What was going on in your life at the time?
• How did you relate to food when you were a child? Were you a heavy kid?

Thinking about these things may be uncomfortable, but it will give you some ideas where your food problems lie. You’re not likely to be successful simply trying to eat less, unless you understand why you tend to overeat in the first place.