Without resorting to deprivation or dieting, we educate individuals on how to create a healthy and natural relationship with food. This method is not only safe, it is effective. By simply and gently addressing the causes of overeating, individuals can begin to permanently solve their problems of excess weight.

The Thin From Within Corporate program is based on a cognitive, behavioral, and emotional approach. Through cognitive shifting, reframing, and behavioral and cognitive restructuring, we teach people how to change their relationship with food, making it much easier to control their weight.

 

Research Findings That Backup Our Approach

Our program is supported by the research findings in the area of overweight and obesity. Below is a list of five of the areas of research that support a program such as Thin From Within and the references associated with these findings:

1) According to Wadden, Brownell, & Foster (2002), overweight and obesity are complex and multifactorial problems. Some examples of individual contributory factors that have been associated with overweight and obesity are binge eating, emotional eating, low self-esteem, low body-esteem, poor family cohesiveness, dietary restraint (dieting and the feast or famine mindset), and trauma (Beamer, 2003). In order to find a permanent solution, we feel it is imperative that the causes of the overweight or obesity are examined for each individual. Our program is set up to address the unique combination of contributory factors at play on an individual level.
 

Beamer, B. A. (2003). Genetic influences on obesity. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), Obesity: Etiology, assessment, treatment and prevent (pp. 43-58). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Friedman, M. A., & Brownell, K. D. (2002). Psychological consequences of obesity. In C. G. Fairburn & K. D. Brownell (Eds.), Eating disorders and obesity: A comprehensive handbook (2^nd ed.; pp. 393-398). New York: Guilford.

Ng, D. M., & Jeffery, R. W. (2003). Relationships between perceived stress and health behaviors in a sample of working adults. Health Psychology, 22(6), 638-642.

2) Diets actually cause weight gain and not weight loss for the majority of individuals by triggering binge eating, emotional eating, and external eating. In addition, restrictive diets cause one to deny the body’s hunger and satiety cues and to lose touch with these internal cues. Our program consists of a non-diet approach to weight loss and weight maintenance with an emphasis on helping the individual to get in touch with hunger and fullness cues and to eat accordingly.

Faith, M. S., Matz, P. E., & Allison, D. B. (2003). Psychosocial correlates and consequences of obesity. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), Obesity: Etiology, assessment, treatment and prevention (pp. 17-32). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

3) Cognitive distortions such as "I will never lose weight", "Everyone else can lose weight except me", and "I'll be fat no matter what I do" are more common in individuals with overweight and obesity than in normal weight individuals. We must first change these thoughts to more empowering ones before any intervention for weight loss or weight maintenance will work.


O’Connor, J., & Dowrick, P. W. (1987). Cognitions in normal weight, overweight, and previously overweight adults. Cognitive Therapy   and Research, 11(3), 315-326

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1987, June). Explanatory style and illness. Journal of Personality, 55(2), 237-265.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1991). Learned optimism. New York: Pocket.

4) Overweight and obese individuals report higher levels of stress than normal weight individuals. It is imperative that we give individuals tools to handle stress in order to break patterns of emotional eating and binge eating. 
 

Dallman, M. F., Pecoraro, N., Akana, S. F., la Fleur, S. E., Gomez, F., Houshyar, H., et al. (2003). Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of “comfort food.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(20), 11696-11701.

Yanovski, S. Z., & Stunkard, A. J. (2004). Obesity and eating disorders. In G. A. Bray & C. Bouchard (Eds.), Handbook of obesity: Clinical applications (2^nd ed; pp. 131-146). New York: Marcel Dekker.

5) Adults who grew up in homes with rigid food rules, such as: 1) “If you put it on your plate, you have to eat it,” 2) “You must eat your vegetables at dinner,” 3) “You must try three bites of everything on your plate,” and 4) “You have to finish your dinner to have dessert” are more likely to weight cycle and binge eat than adults who did not grow up in a home with such rules. It is also true that adults who set rigid food rules for themselves are more likely to be overweight and more likely to weight cycle than adults who do not try to adhere to a set of rigid food rules. One of the main focal areas of our program is to help teach people to control weight in a positive way, without rigid rules that can trigger overeating and binge eating. 
 

Faith, M. S., Matz, P. E., & Allison, D. B. (2003). Psychosocial correlates and consequences of obesity. In R. E. Anderson (Ed.), Obesity: Etiology, assessment, treatment and prevention (pp. 17-32). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Johnson, S. L., & Birch. L. L. (1994). Parents’ and children’s adiposity and eating style. Pediatrics, 94(5), 653-661.

Klesges, R. C., Coates, T. J., Brown, G., Sturgeon-Tillisch, J., Moldenhauer-Klesges, L. M., Holzer, B., et al. (1983). Parental influences on children’s eating behavior and relative weight. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16(4), 371-378.

Klesges, R. C., Malott, J. M., Boschee, P. F., & Weber, J. M. (1986). The effects of parental influences on children’s food intake, physical activity, and relative weight. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5(2), 335-346.