Hooked On Being Fat
By Dr. Steven Prentice The irony for those that have wrestled with a long-term weight problem is that even though they may wish the problem could finally be eliminated, the reality is that many people subconsciously keep the problem around and refuse to move past it. It's like we get addicted to the struggle. What often happens is that we get so accustomed to getting energy from our problems that we refuse to let them go. We may think we want to solve an issue and move past it but deep down we may really want to hang on to it. Being fat is a full time struggle. It takes over your life. It becomes the central focus and dominates your existence. And as much as we may hate being fat and wish for nothing more than to be fit, at the same time we can have a hard time letting the struggle go. The reason why it's hard to separate ourselves from the problem is because after struggling with a weight issue for years, if not decades, we begin to use the energy that is created from our struggle to fuel us. The problem of overcoming our weight problem gives us something to do. It gives a reason to get up in the morning. Something to think about. Even though we may think we hate this problem and want nothing more than to be done with it, the fact of the matter is that at some level, we may like it. This love/hate relationship we have with chronic problems manifests in other areas as well. Some people get energy and "juice" from having constant conflict in their lives. They may stay in a job they can't stand just so they have something to complain about. They may stay in a relationship they're not happy in because they get "juice" out of the negativity. Or they may act inappropriately because they get energy from the negative consequences. One thing to consider for anyone who wishes to conquer a weight problem is to figure out whether or not you are holding on to your weight problem for the energy you get from it. One way to discover this is to imagine yourself at your ideal weight. Imagine what your day to day life would be like if you never had to think about weight again. If you never had to think about what you should eat, how much you should eat, or anything else related to food. What if you never had to think about your body shape or size and never had to give a second thought to how you looked? 
When you imagine how your life would be if your weight issue was solved forever, is there a part of you that wonders, "well, if I never had to spend time or energy thinking about food or my weight, then what would I do?" If you finally reach your weight loss goal and now that problem is solved, then what are you going to replace that great source of energy with? What is going to give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning if you have no weight related burdens? What are you going to spend all that time thinking about and working on if you no longer have weight dominating your life?If weight and food have been the dominate issues in your life then you have unwittingly been receiving large amounts of energy from the problem. As you continue to work on trying to lose weight, you must look ahead and plan for the day when you no longer have weight to spend your time and energy on. You must decide before you lose the weight that you are ready to move past this problem and that you no longer need or desire the energy it provides. Decide now what you are going to replace this energy source with and by doing this you will allow your subconscious mind to let the problem go. When you remove the subconscious blocks that you have to losing weight, the rest is easy. If you don't address the internal resistance you may have to losing weight, then it will likely never happen.
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