Dr. Linda Mintle

Tag: weight

  • Male Eating Disorders

    Not much media attention is given to men and eating disorders. One in ten males suffer.

    Not much media attention is given to men and eating disorders. One reason may be that these disorders are disproportionately female. In recent years, however, the number of males afflicted has risen from one in twenty, to about one in ten. Approximately one-third of adolescent boys report bingeing with food.

    Men, like women, are affected by cultural media stereotypes that promote a fit and buffed body as signs of attractiveness and success. But men are more concerned about their shape than weight. Men also are affected by other sociocultural factors such as the pressure of a demanding job market and the changing view of masculinity and gender roles.

    Exercise appears to be a common entrée into symptom development. Dieting plays a role related to playing sports, past obesity, gender identity conflicts, and avoidance of feared medical illness. Boys may begin to diet to lose a few pounds, exercise to lose more weight, and then refuse to eat normally. Exercise is usually the chosen route for weight loss.

    Like women, certain subgroups of men are more at risk. For example, male wrestles have a high proportion of eating disorders. In addition, men who develop eating disorders are more likely than women to have been obese.Clinical symptoms are similar with the obvious exception of amenorrhea.

    Onset of a male eating disorder can begin at preadolescence, adolescence and young adulthood, or adulthood. Men benefit greatly from treatment and are often happy to find someone who appreciates their concerns. They typically have more alcohol related problems and obsessional thinking than female eating disorders. Female eating disorders are more afflicted with mood disorders in addition to eating problems.

    Why are these disorders more typically female? One thought is that males don’t diet as often to control weight. In addition, males increase muscle during puberty and are less concerned about fat than girls. Males want to be bigger and taller. It also may be that eating disorders in males are under diagnosed and underreported since they are known as female disorders.

    Whatever the reasons, it is important to know that males do use food to cope with emotional difficulties. For more information about eating disorders in general, refer to other articles in this section.

  • PART 3: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Part 3: Mindful eating interview with Dr. Mintle and Mark DanielsPart 3 of Mindful Eating will provide you tips and help to overcome mindless eating. Catch all three parts of this informative interview on how to press pause before you eat and become an intentional eater. You control the food. Do not let food control you!

  • PART 2: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Dr. Linda Mintle continues the conversation with Mark Daniels on mindful eating.Listen to Part 2 of this helpful interview.

    Part 2: Mindful Eating with Dr. Mintle and Mark Daniels

  • Part 1: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Do you struggle with eating when you are not hungry?
    Do you grab the bag of chips, sit in front of the TV and finish them off without thinking?
    Do you eat when you are bored, tired, or want to relax?
    Do you eat when you feel happy?

    Like most of us, we eat because food is abundant and it takes good. But we are not eating with intention. Instead, we mindlessly put food in our mouths and then feel bad later when the pounds creep up. Dr. Linda has a helpful 3 part interview with Mark Daniels that will help you become a mindful eater. Based on her book, Press Pause Before You Eat, she shares the secrets to becoming a mindful eater. Here is part 1. Dr. Mintle 1

  • Why Do I Overeat?

    Question: I know that when I overeat, I gain weight but I can’t seem to stop. I hate how I look and am embarrassed to have people see me in a bathing suit. Why do I keep overeating? I don’t want to but I do it anyway.

    Dr. Linda: First of all stop saying you can’t stop. You can. It just takes becoming a mindful eater–the subject of my book, PRESS PAUSE BEFORE YOU EAT. An eating problem is not like a drug or alcohol problem. You can’t abstain from food and you aren’t physiologically addicted when you eat. But food can become a psychological addiction.

    Let’s face it. Food is soothing and tastes good. Some people feel there is nothing better than food! It is always available, not illegal, can’t talk back, provides immediate gratification, gives pleasure, smells good, tastes good and is enjoyable.

    People overeat for many reasons. A small percentage of people have medical problems that relate to overeating and obesity. Most people, however, overeat out of emotional distress.  You may eat when you are bored, stressed, sad, depressed, anxious, angry, hurt, happy or for any other emotional reason. Food can be a way to celebrate or soothe and numb you from a bad experience.

    Many of my clients overeat when they face conflict and don’t know how to handle it. They are unassertive and swallow their upsets. They might agree to a resolution but secretly be unhappy or upset.  Their low self-esteem leads them to believe they can’t handle problems or stress. Sometimes they lack the skills necessary to do so.

    Sometimes people overeat to protect themselves from trauma. If they have been raped, sexually hurt or deeply rejected, eating may be used to cover up the wounding or ward people off. Perhaps when they were thin, someone traumatized them and now they associate thin with trauma.

    Men and women sometimes overeat to deal with sexual impulses. Unconsciously, they may be afraid that if they had a trim body they would act out sexually, or be the target of sexual advances. Fat can serve as protection and is often blamed for other undeveloped parts of our self. For example, maybe I’m a critical person and that’s why people stay away from me. As long as I’m fat, I can blame their avoidance on my weight.

    Most people aren’t aware they use food to cope with emotional issues. When I ask, “Why did you overeat”, the typical answer is, “I don’t know.” If you think about it hard and long enough, there was a reason for overeating.

    Next time you find yourself overeating, think about what happened before you ate. Were you upset, angry, bored, excited? See if you can identify an emotion that may have led to overeating. The first step in breaking a compulsive pattern is to recognize what sets it off. Then force yourself to substitute some other activity for eating.

    PRESS PAUSE WEEK Introduction