Mastering Food Program

The Mastering Food Program is “based on the powerful principles of psychotherapy,” but is done over the Internet. It claims to provide a “genuine two-way online dialog” that aids in isolating the causes of emotional eating. It also is said to help the user through “your own personal recovery process.” The program claims to focus on the ways in which people “use food to run away from feelings,” and promises to enable users to face those feelings. The Mastering Food Website states that the program is so exhaustive that “if you printed out all the work you do during our twelve-week session, it would be a stack of paper 2 inches thick.”

The Mastering Food Website provides a significant amount of information regarding the program’s claimed psychotherapeutic benefits. A free 15-minute trial is available on the site, as well as information about purchasing the 12-week program for about $120.00. The site also provides a checklist that consumers can use to determine if they are an “emotional eater.” Some of the signs listed for emotional eating include “your hunger comes on suddenly,” and “you have intense food cravings.” The site also acknowledges that everyone is, to some degree and at some times, an “emotional eater.” Finally, the Website does include some testimonials from former users of this program.

The program claims to address the issue of overall lifestyle by tackling the emotional issues that block weight loss. There seems to be a great deal of focus on this aspect, and less on the actual food choices and exercise regimens that weight loss plans entail. While it may be helpful to “not be afraid to feel,” it is also important to carefully plan a weight loss strategy through diet and exercise. While these aspects may be addressed in the online “therapy sessions,” they do not appear to be emphasized on the Website.

• Claims to address emotional eating problems
• Website includes some testimonials

• Seems to assume that overweight people are unhappy
• Appears to discount metabolism and heredity
• Website does not seem to emphasize exercise and diet
• Consumers may not have time for “comprehensive work”

For some dieters, emotional issues may be at the core of weight loss obstacles. However, this program seems to assume that fundamental unhappiness is the main cause of weight problems. This simply may not be the case for some dieters. This program appears to dismiss important factors like metabolism and heredity in chronic weight problems. Some dieters, who are not especially unhappy, may not need 12 weeks of psychotherapy in order to effectively lose weight.

For those whose weight loss obstacles are physical in nature, there are many high-quality dietary supplements available to handle these obstacles. The issues of metabolism and cravings have been addressed quite successfully in products containing the potent thermogenic component Advantra-Z® and the appetite suppressant Hoodia. These two ingredients have been shown to work well together to provide weight loss results. Free trials of these supplements may also be available from reputable manufacturers.