I'm reading a small book that is actually an ad for a weight loss drug called alli. I'd never heard of this drug, know nothing about it, and am not advocating its use. The reason I spent $5.99 (before tax) on what is essentially an advertisement is that I began reading it while waiting for a prescription to be filled and I realized it contains a lot of great info about having a balanced approach to eating. It's called "are you losing it? losing weight without losing your mind." Forget the drug, take the book.

The first idea in the book that deserves a lot more attention is this idea that self care is an essential and significant component of stopping overeating. I have been working on this myself lately, so it really struck a chord.

The book is written in sections, each by a different doctor, and the one who talks about self care is Gary Foster, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. Here's a quote from his section of the book, "Weight loss is about self care. It is about taking time for self care. It is about changing your attitude, your behavior and your lifestyle" (pg 10).

Lets break that down a bit. Changing your attitude toward self care. I hear this as a call to put yourself first. Many women have a hard time putting themselves first. We're socialized to do for others and put our own needs last.

Remember in the airplane when the flight attendant says "put your oxygen mask on first, then your child's." That's the idea here -- if you're not taking care of yourself, how can you take care of others? Burnout is on the horizon, temporarily staved-off by a few donuts, a couple frappuchinos, a brownie here, a cookie there. Then you're not only worn down from caring for others, you're tired from carrying around too much weight, ill from it even, and feeling depressed and guilty about eating too much.

Let's get to how self-care can reduce overeating. When you're stressed, rushed, under the gun it's really hard to eat healthy foods. It's easy to get into an unhealthy convenience or snack food habit that packs on the calories and becomes a trap, getting us hooked on overly salty and sugary flavors.

Beyond this, though, there is something in valuing oneself that is fundamental to eating right. By making time for activities that we enjoy (whether our significant others do or not, whether our kids are involved or not, whether they keep us from staying late for work that day) is a way of telling ourselves what we're worth to ourselves. When we affirm our worth by experiencing the pleasures life has to offer, we stop trying to fill the void with food and instead get rid of the void itself.

Changing your attitude toward self care requires changing your attitude toward yourself. Like the Loreal commercial says, "you're worth it!"

Next time I'll break-down how behavior change is related to self-care (is related to stopping overeating, is connected to the leg bone, etc.).

By the way, here are a couple links to websites. One reviews a variety of diet products and the other is all about alli: We Know Diets and ConsumerPriceWatch