Mother. Weight problems begin early; the majority of overweight adults had some problem with their weight as children or adolescents. Genetics clearly plays a part, but our ability to distinguish its effects from those of conditioning and environmental stimuli is very limited. We can say that children of overweight parents have a greater tendency to be overweight. Our mother is usually the first one to feed us, and early on we develop patterns of eating and relating that often influence us for life. And for many this pattern with mother continues, with moms trying to nourish us on many levels throughout life. Counseling concerning the relationship with mother helps many overweight people clarify the issues and desires related to food and may allow new motivations to come forth.

Motivation. Most overweight people know that ups and downs in weight do not work. Fad diets may be fun, but they are usually frivolous, because 80–90 percent of people who lose weight with them then regain the weight lost or sometimes even more, and this is less healthy than just staying the weight we are. We need a lifetime plan, and this is where motivation comes in. Gathering our deeper strength by focusing on the long-range vision as well as the quick benefits, and continually telling ourselves that we can do it, is what will help to overcome our weight problem. It has been conditioned very deeply. Most people think more about the immediate benefits of the slimmer body or better appearance, often believing it will please another, than the lifelong health risks of being overweight. Emphasizing both may help improve motivation.

Overeating and poor habits are hard to change but easy to develop. I know from experience. It is easy to simply say change the diet, but without the motivation and the ability to break through our psychological barriers, it is very difficult to make major changes. I found it very successful to first change the types of foods I ate to a more natural-food diet. Sugars, fats, and refined foods can easily be replaced with more wholesome choices. These refined and rich foods may increase our hunger as well as add low-nutrient calories. (Complex carbohydrate foods fill us with fewer calories and reduce our appetite.) Thus, reducing their intake usually makes a difference in calorie and nutrient intake, and often in our metabolism and general health, which will influence our weight. Then we can move on to deal with our more difficult habits. Isolating and eliminating allergenic/addictive foods is difficult only for a few days. Then, eating a variety of foods will minimize other possible allergens in the diet. Really, we need to create a new, stable lifestyle approach to give us the right body weight and energy, and the effective level of metabolism to maintain them.

Metabolism. There are several theories regarding the effects of our metabolism on our weight, and I am convinced that they each describe important factors. Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate at which our body burns calories to maintain its functions at rest. It is affected by our gender, age, diet, activity level, thyroid function, amount of sleep, amount of body fat, body temperature, weight, and likely, by our genetics. We need a certain number of calories to maintain our weight with a regular exercise level. We can calculate our acceptable calorie intake by figuring the number of calories required to meet our basic needs (BMR) and adding to it the extra calories used in exercise and mental activity. Formulas for doing this are provided in many nutrition books, such Jane Brody’s Nutrition Book.