Myths on Maintaining Healthy Body Weight

The National Center for Health statistics has tracked America’s obesity problem over four decades. These statistics reveal the growing concern regarding the American obesity problem.

Between 1962 and 2000, the number of obese Americans grew from 13% to an alarming 31%.

– 63% of Americans are overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) in excess of 25.0.

– 31% are obese with a BMI in excess of 30.0.

– Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past two decades.

– The U.S. Surgeon General reported obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths yearly.

Janet Cunningham, Ph.D., author of audio tape, Weight Loss Breakthroughs and book, Inner Selves: the Feminine Path to Weight Loss (for men and women who value their intuitive nature) www.JanetCunningham.com,  states, “7 Myths that Prevent Permanent Weight Loss’ are a challenge to the programmed and patterned belief systems related to obesity. I encourage people who struggle with excess body fat to read them and consider how their mind and emotions may have contributed to a lack of success.”

The following beliefs are common among people with weight problems and not among people who are naturally-thin. If we can emulate the mind-set of people who are naturally-thin, it will greatly increase our success in achieving our goals! After a lifetime of dieting without results, most people are inclined to give up their weight-loss and reducing goals.

Understanding these food myths hopefully will end the fear of food and unsuccessful diets that overweight individuals endure. Allow this information to put an end to the constant obsession with diets, fat, eating and other related myths.

Myth #1: “It runs in my family — it’s genetic!”

Reality: Certainly, there may be what we call tendencies, but I don’t believe that there is a “fat” gene that is passed down from generation to generation. What is inherited is attitudes towards food and living in general. These include guilt, fear, anger, depression and a general outlook on life. We learn how to be guilty about what we eat. We learn how to have fear of food. We learn how to be angry about the situation. We learn how to become depressed when we can’t achieve our goals. As a result, we’ve inadvertently learned exactly what to do to gain weight! Each of us has within us the power to break this negative cycle.

Myth #2: “Overweight people need to watch what they eat and thin people never need to worry about what they eat.”

Reality: It’s the reverse! Worrying about food causes one to gain weight and not worrying about food assists one to remain slim. This concept seems outrageous to most people because the myth is so deeply ingrained. How do we explain people who literally never binge, and who also never unnaturally starve themselves, but they still keep weight on? In these cases no morsel of food is eaten without fear, guilt, anger, or some other negative emotion. Whether, we realize it or not, this emotional charge gets infused into the food we eat. So we don’t just eat the food, we are literally consuming fear, guilt and anger! So instead of being grateful for the nourishment we are receiving, we have guilt about eating half a carrot stick — and we will gain weight on that half a carrot stick! This is because although it may not be high in calories, it is extremely rich in heavy emotions. The food gets distributed in the body and the cellular memory is then fed with the very opposite message desired. The result is that eating only salad for two months actually makes the person gain weight! How many times have you “enjoyed” your favorite packaged sweet dessert while reading the calories-per-serving information on the back of the package at the same time? Do you see that in doing this, instead of truly enjoying the moment, you are creating guilt and negativity? This promotes an ongoing state of fear about food which affects how you will metabolize the food you have just eaten! Our emotions infuse themselves into the food we are about to eat. If we eat the worry, guilt, or other negative emotions, we are feeding the fat.

Myth #3: “I just like to eat.”

Reality: Look where there may be a denial of fulfillment in other areas. Lack of creative, personal, economic and spiritual fulfillment can make one have a disproportionate desire to seek fulfillment in the food arena.

Myth #4: “Overweight people like food more than thin people.”

Reality: It’s the reverse! Thin people love food. They savor every moment. They enjoy the experience. They take their time. They make a meal last. They eat what they want and avoid what they don’t want.

Myth #5: “I’m not acceptable because I need to lose weight.”

Reality: It’s the reverse! Feeling unacceptable can cause one to become overweight. Loving yourself for who you are on the inside will have a commensurate effect on the outside.

Myth #6: “The no-pain-no-gain mentality is the only way to finally lose weight.”

Reality: It’s the reverse! When you set an extreme, unreasonable and difficult weight loss goal, it will backfire.

Myth #7: “Black is slimming on me. I feel better about myself when I wear black — that’s why I wear black all the time.”

Reality: First, when an overweight person wears black, it does not make them look thinner. It simply broadcasts to the world that they are trying to conceal the fact they are overweight! Second, by wearing black all the time, the feeling that your body must be hidden becomes ingrained into your consciousness. This is extremely negative. Third, speaking metaphysically, the black frequency tends to block the flow of the positive nurturing spiritual energy that we so desperately crave. Ironically, we then interpret this lack as a hunger for food which causes us to eat more and to gain more weight! So, wearing black for an extended period of time may actually prevent weight loss in the long run.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD
Genesis Consultants, Inc.