Shrink Yourself Review
Created by licensed psychiatrist Dr. Roger Gould, “Shrink Yourself” is not the typical diet and weight loss industry fare. Forget the boot camp workouts, starvation-level calorie restrictions, the barely edible prepared meals – Dr. Gould’s theory is that all of that stuff is like a band-aid, a temporary fix for your weight woes. And though they may be effective for short-term weight loss, in all likelihood you’re destined to have to suffer through their unpleasantness again when the weight comes back. And why does the weight pretty much always come back? Because, according to Gould, the problem is not your lack of enthusiasm for exercise and eating like a rabbit – the problem is deeper and more complicated than that, it is why you are driven to eat too much, too often, and cannot break the cycle.
The term for this is “emotional eating” – that is, eating not for basic physical hunger but for a whole host of other reasons, some of which you may not even realize. Emotional eating is, basically, eating to make yourself feel better. Your brain has trained itself over time to recognize food as a balm, a reward, a comfort, an escape – you get the idea. It’s self-medicating, using food to compensate for other issues – depression, stress, sadness, loneliness, anger, low self-esteem…the list of life’s stresses is virtually endless. Some people cope with alcohol, some with drugs, some with sex – and emotional eaters cope with food.
The Shrink Yourself program is not so much a diet as it is (and no need to be spooked by this) a therapy program (at a lot less cost than in-person therapy), which asks you to look inside yourself and honestly answer some candid, sometimes tough, questions about yourself, the pressures you are under, and your relationships with other people. You’re asked to explore your feelings – what stresses you, makes you anxious, angry, sad, hurt, etc. – and determine what triggers and drives your need to eat, even when you may fully recognize that you’re being self-destructive. Do you feel empty, and do you think you are (maybe consciously, maybe not) filling that emptiness with food? Do you eat to combat boredom? Do you eat to calm yourself? Do you, perhaps, eat to punish yourself – or someone else?
We are unabashed fans of Dr. Gould’s work. While we advocate and promote a healthy lifestyle of balanced nutrition and regular exercise for weight loss and maintenance, we recognize that leaving behind yo-yo dieting for a happy, healthy, sunny future of bike rides, mixed greens salads and clothes that fit is totally unattainable until you get a handle on why it is that you’re overweight in the first place. The message of Shrink Yourself is that with some healing of your head and your heart, the healing of your body will naturally follow.
