Are you a food addict? Is there such a thing? What do people mean when they say they're food addicts? Aren't we all food addicts? We need to eat to live so... It's like saying you are addicted to water or sunlight. "Hi, I'm Irene. I'm a water addict." "...

When I ask people why they are overweight, most don't respond with the factual answer. The factual answer is that they take in enough calories, on a regular basis, to maintain that body weight. If you weigh 300 lbs. it is because you take in about 3,000 calories a day,...

Eating for reasons other than hunger can cause unwanted side effects. The side effects can range from a few unwanted pounds to a serious eating disorder. Many of us eat when we are bored, angry, tired, procrastinating, happy, sad, excited, anxious, frustrated, etc. We eat to reward ourselves and to...

You wake up, get out of bed and head to the bathroom. Habit. You take a shower or bath in the same way each time. You drive to work the same way. Habits... routines... we need them. If we had to think about all the mundane tasks we do everyday,...

What is your calorie budget? Do you know how many calories you should be eating each day? Most people don't. Vitamin bottles base their information on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. A 161.6 lbs. man could eat 2,000 calories a day, without exercise, and maintain his weight. If you...

Have you ever found yourself standing in front of the refrigerator, looking for something to eat? You look and realize there is nothing in there you want and leave the kitchen, only to return maybe ten minutes later. You open the refrigerator again, look around, close, and repeat ten minutes...

I will never forget watching Madonna on Oprah years ago. Madonna tells Oprah that she eats anything she wants. So Oprah asked Madonna what she ate that day. I'm assuming the interview took place in the morning and Madonna said,

"A half a bagel with butter."

Oprah said,...

I'm extremely curious about what you think about this issue. I was trying to think back to a time when we had an obese president. I couldn't. Let me just say that I am terrible at history but my husband, who is excellent, thinks the last rotund president was Hoover....

It is daunting isn't it? The amount of information is overwhelming. It's everything from diet books to weight loss blogs, from websites devoted to weight loss to weight loss programs to TV shows all about weight loss. Then we have the battle of the diet books. Which diet is better:...

Isn't self-image an odd thing? It is based on many factors and is often fraught with problems. The main problem with self image is that you can never really see yourself the way others do. This is simply due to the fact that your eyeballs are inside your head. Unless...

I asked my son, when he was about 6, how he knew when to stop eating. He said, "My tummy tells me, because, I can't actually see in there." I have raised him on as much healthy food as he will eat and let him have some sweets as well....

Whether you lost your Mom this year or 40 years ago, Mother's Day is never going to be the same for you. There are lots of us out there whose Mother's have passed. This year, like every year since l997, we will be having our annual Motherless Daughter's Day luncheon...

Are you a sneak eater? Do you gobble when no one is looking? Do you wait until everyone has gone to bed and then hit the kitchen? Do you go out to a restaurant and order with restraint only to go home and binge when you are alone and no...

Stop the presses. We have found the cure for obesity. Haven't you heard? If you happened to miss it in the press, I am here to happily hand it to you.

The cure for obesity is to take in less calories than you burn. This will result in weight...

Dear Donatella,

I read that your daughter Allegra is in the hospital for anorexia, is down to 70 lbs., and being tube fed. I am so sorry to hear that. She is a beautiful girl and I hope she makes it and recovers from this deadly disorder. So here is...

I was walking my dog the other day when we happened upon a construction site. A man working there (who looked to be about 70 years old) said, "Hello, beautiful!! Don't we look lovely today." As I was just about to fling my hair back and say, "Thank You", I...

Eliot Spitzer has apparently started therapy. Good for him. Better late then never. Are you in therapy? Should you be? Do you need it?

Twenty years ago, when I got my license to practice therapy, everyone was in therapy. The economy was pretty good, health insurance paid well for...

Is there a fat personality type? Do overweight people share certain characteristics that contribute to their weight issues? Studies have looked for similarities in people who battle their weight and have found a few. In general, the healthier the personality, the more successful the person is at losing weight...

This morning in the weight loss support group I run, we were discussing the power of a bagel. It didn't start out as a bagel discussion, but ended up there. We were talking about handling stress and how using food to calm, to sooth, and to distract, are powerful motivators...

Why is losing weight so hard? Why is keeping it off even harder? Why do you start off full force and then lose steam after a short while?

Habits are hard to change. Eating habits are particularly hard because you have to make choices everyday and several times a day,...