News & Features > Dana Littleton, End Emotional Eating

Dana Littleton Lost 112 Pounds

Good Housekeeping, February 2006

Stats: Married with two daughters; 34 years old; from Guntersville, Alabama
Heaviest Weight: 250
Current Weight: 138
Time It Took: Ten months

How She Gained: Two miscarriages in 2001 sent Littleton into a deep depression - and the only thing that comforted her was food. "Whenever something went wrong or bothered me, I'd eat," she says. She stashed Swiss Cake Rolls in her car and purse, just in case she needed a pick-me-up. Within three months, she had gained 50 pounds. And that was just the beginning.

Turning Point: On January 2, 2003, she saw Bob Greene on TV and went out that same day to buy his book The Get with the Program! Guide to Good Eating. She ended up underlining almost every sentence. At the same time, she realized that her two young daughters were learning her bad eating habits. "I thought to myself, They can end up like me, or I can break the cycle here," she says.

How She Lost: Littleton started using a NordicTrack machine for 15 minutes a day. Each time she exercised, she would try to stay on for two minutes longer. She also began running - at first, just from her front door to her mailbox, but she slowly built up to an eight-mile workout. "When I felt like giving up, I'd pray for the willpower to continue," she says. Her diet had to change too. Littleton cut out all high-calorie foods and stopped munching after dinner: "After two weeks, I felt so much thinner."

How Bob Greene Helped: His book made it clear that you can't let anything interfere with obligations to yourself. Says Littleton, "I never understood before that if I took care of myself, I'd be better able to take care of my children and husband."

Best Compliment: After Littleton dropped 100 pounds, her nine-year-old daughter hugged her and said, "Mama, I've never been able to put my arms all the way around you before!" Littleton also won't forget her husband's comment: "You're more beautiful than you've ever been."

Low-Cal Snack Secret: Littleton puts Cool Whip Free in the freezer so that it'll taste like ice cream.

Her Number One Rule: "If you mess up, it's OK. Just keep going."

The Ultimate Payoff: Even when Littleton can't afford to buy new clothes, she goes out and simply tries things on. "It feels better than anything you can put in your mouth," she says.

— Sarah Felix

End emotional eating for good

Diet guru Bob Greene on the real reason you're not dropping those pounds - and how to start losing right now

Dana Littleton, a patient of Dr. Hedden, after losing more than 100 pounds

Good Housekeeping, February 2006

By Kate Coyne

Your husband just won't eat diet food. It was snowing, so you couldn't go shopping for healthy things to eat. You felt as if you were coming down with something. The only things served at that party were cheese and cookies. Your dog ate your running shoes.

Bob Greene, weight-loss coach extraordinaire, has heard it all. "I know every single excuse not to eat right or exercise regularly - except for a good one," he says with a smile. "And that's because none of them are good. When people make excuses, all they're doing is justifying why they can't change, why they're not worthy of change. They're looking for ways to let themselves off the hook."

Over the years, as he's helped Oprah Winfrey - and hundreds of other clients - to win the weight battle, Greene has learned that when it comes to finally dropping pounds, there is only one thing that really matters - and it has nothing to do with calories consumed or hours spent in the gym.

Three Powerful Words

"At the end of the day, weight loss is really about self-esteem," Greene says. "Some philosophical, emotional change has to happen if you're going to be successful long term. Don't think, 'I just have to change my diet and exercise habits, and then the work is over.' It's not. If you simply diet and exercise without making a mental breakthrough, you're just going to be in a vicious circle. I've never seen a person succeed in the long term who didn't first make a core change in the way they felt about themselves."

But what sort of revelation is required before you can finally conquer the weight that's plagued you? "The number one thing you need to understand is this - you are worthy of a better life," Greene says. "To change, you've got to feel these three words: 'I deserve this.' You're not going to get anywhere, long term, until you say to yourself, 'Hey, I'm not a bad person, and I really do deserve this.' The people who succeed at losing weight and keeping it off have said to themselves, 'I am worthy of whatever I am seeking.'"

Of course, even the most committed and self-aware person has days when the treadmill seems too daunting or the brownies are too irresistible. What can change, Greene says, is the way you view your bad days.

Failure can be Your Friend

"Setbacks are going to happen," says Greene. "But what will make the difference is if you can see that those moments are really opportunities - opportunities to reaffirm your self-esteem. Yes, you fell of the wagon. Big deal. That doesn't mean you've blown it.

"If you do mess up, there are two roads you can take. You can pick yourself up and admire yourself for being strong enough to continue, or you can go down the road of negative self-esteem and say, 'Oh, I'm not worthy, and this slipup just proves it.' Failure is an opportunity to say 'I can overcome this.' This is your chance to shore up your resolve," Greene explains. "Every day of your life, when you wake up, you have a choice: Am I going to build on the positive momentum, or am I going to let negativity take over? Success comes when you say 'I might mess up, but I'm going to start again and keep going.'"

Some habits die hard, however, and when you've spent a lifetime thinking of Twinkies as the ultimate reward for a hard day's work or a job well done, it can be difficult to retrain your brain into believing a walk in the park is just as satisfying.

"People do tell me that they reward themselves with food. But I think they're using the wrong word," Greene reveals. "You aren't rewarding yourself with food - you're comforting yourself with it. Really, we're all hungry emotionally. And food is so readily available that it's the easiest source of comfort. Breaking free of it is no different from breaking free of any other kind of drug. You have to address it openly. You have to ask yourself, ' Why am I using food as a crutch? What are the areas in my life that are disappointing me right now?' You're comforting yourself, for the most part, because you're not getting what you really need."

As it turns out, even the most grueling workout is no sweat compared with the emotional heavy lifting that lies behind the real change. "The hard work is looking at every area of your life and making it more fulfilling," Greene explains, "so that food is not your only comfort. Don't get me wrong: Food is meant to be enjoyed. But eating is not supposed to be the main source of joy or your main response to stress, boredom, or emptiness in you life."

Easy Does It

So if you love yourself more, will the pounds just melt away? Not exactly, says Greene - your new self-esteem still has to be put into action with old-fashioned calorie cutting and exercise. There is good news, however, for those overwhelmed by all that lies ahead. Many were inspired by Oprah's dramatic weight loss over the past few years. But when she revealed the secret behind her newly sleek figure - eight workouts a week combined with a diet that eliminated sugar and refined flours - following her lead become extremely daunting. And that's as it should be, says Greene.

"People need to understand that what Oprah did was a boot camp," Greene says. "That's what you have to do if you want a total body makeover - if you have a class reunion coming up or a wedding to attend and you want to make a huge change in a limited amount of time. But for many people, that's just too much effort, and I respect that. You can lose weight much more gradually. Start by identifying the rate of loss you're looking for. If you're content with losing one or two pounds a week, you can do a very modest exercise program and limit the amount of food you eat. Nothing that radical - just push away from the table a little bit sooner." What's a "modest" workout? Greene recommends 20 to 30 minutes of medium-intensity exercise - like walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical machine - five days a week.

For most people, says Greene, two pounds a week is the perfect goal: "When you look at the results for people who lost at roughly that pace, their long-term success rate is greater than for those who lost faster. Plus, the slow losers didn't have to deprive themselves as much. You've just got to manage your own expectations."

After listening to people's excuses for years, Greene knows how hard a weight-loss struggle can be. But at the end of the day, he says, the answer lies in simplicity. "People have made a lot of money by telling people that the real secret is to cut out this food group or that one or to do a certain kind of exercise or workout. But it comes down to three basic steps." He says. "Eat less. Move more. And know that you deserve a life in which you are slimmer, healthier, and, most of all, happier."

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