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How do you deal with a lifetime of bad eating habits and yo-yo dieting?
For Dr Michelle May the issue was complicated when she advised her patients to lose weight "and they didn't seem to fare any better than" she did.
Her solution has been to create the Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating Workshops, a program that attempts to change the relationship of people to food.
Dr May, a weight-control specialist based in the United States, has trained 260 health professionals to run her workshops and has also written self-help book Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat.
Here she answers questions about food and dieting:
Q: WHAT DOES "HOW I THINK ABOUT FOOD" MEAN?
A: Every one of us is born with the ability to eat when we're hungry and stop when we're full.
Then we are taught to eat all our dinner so that we can get dessert or to get our money's worth from the food. Or we eat because we are stressed or because we want entertainment.
All of this is disconnected from the ability to know when and how much to eat.
Q: WALK ME THROUGH THE CONCEPT
A: We start with why we are eating in the first place. We start with "why" because that can affect what we eat.
When I can get people to relearn the hunger signals versus when they are just eating for other reasons, food comes back into balance.
It's wise to create a structure that's supporting you. This is a personalised approach to eating.
It's not about rules but about ways to manage food that is sustainable.
Q: IS THE PLAN DESCRIBED IN YOUR BOOK?
A: Of course. Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat has four parts: Think, Nourish, Love and Eat.
The first part teaches you to ask yourself questions to gain awareness of why, when, what, how and how much you eat.
The second part is written from an all-foods-fit perspective because I believe nutritional information should be used as a tool, not a weapon.
The more mindful we are about eating, the less likely we will crave highly processed, rich foods. And we find we are satisfied with a smaller amount of food.
The third part shows you how to add physical activity to your life.
And then there are recipes. After all, my husband, Owen, is a professional spa chef and we have a passion for making nutritious taste delicious.
Q: WE READ SO MUCH ABOUT OBESITY
A: Obesity is multi-factorial. There are so many different components.
If people would eat instinctively, there would be no weight problems.
Q: YOU TAKE ISSUE WITH THE CONCEPT OF IMAGE AS RELATED TO FOOD
A: As a human being, we have to give up the idea that we all want to be the same size and shape. That's not possible.
Who we are is a combination of nature and nurture.
Q: YOU PLACE A GREAT EMPHASIS ON SETTING GOALS
A: The key to success is to create inspiring and achievable goals and a plan to achieve those goals.
Project yourself into the future and imagine the possibilities. Focus on the areas that challenge and inspire you.
Break your goals into small, specific steps that you feel confident you can achieve. Make them measurable. Write them down.
Identify obstacles and possible solutions and assess your progress frequently.
Q: AND YOU CAN STILL HAVE BURGERS AND CRISPY OVEN FRIES?
A: Hey, cook it up and invite the neighbours in!
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