Transformational Weight Loss

Transformational Weight Loss is an approach to overcoming obesity, developed by Yale University graduate Charles Eisenstein. Part philosophy and part psychology, Eisenstein's perspective differs from traditional dieting principles in its insistence on giving up efforts to control, restrict and limit one's eating habits. Instead, Eisenstein says the focus must be on understanding and accepting yourself. Weight loss, like any other lasting change, can only result from inner transformation. His program offers a step-by-step approach to self-healing.

• Overeating is an attempt to fill unmet needs stemming from past experience.

Creator's Background

• Eisenstein developed Transformational Weight Loss as an extension of his experiences and earlier work. Married with children and a career, Eisenstein found himself in an existential crisis. "I didn't know what I was searching for, but I knew that none of the usual options life presents a Yale graduate attracted me," he said. Unfulfilled in his work and facing health, financial and marital problems, he was forced into a period of re-evaluation and self-exploration. Many of his ideas about health and human consciousness evolved during this period.

Available Formats

• Transformational Weight Loss is available in a number of formats. The print edition can be purchased through Amazon.com or directly through Eisenstein's website at www.foodsanity.com. The audio edition comes on three CDs and also is available through the author's website. An online edition can be read there as well. Finally, Eisenstein presents seminars and workshops on Transformational Weight Loss and other topics.

Basic Tenet

• Trying harder to lose weight doesn't work, Eisenstein said. We strive to reach goals and become better people by denigrating the part of us that desires pleasure. This creates a continuous war against the self. Eisenstein believes this approach doesn't work because it makes us feel virtuous when we succeed, at the expense of denying our desires. These desires eventually re-emerge, setting us up for failure. He said real transformation can only occur when we fully acknowledge and accept ourselves, including those parts we label as negative.

Emphasis on Self-Awareness

• Overeating is a substitute for something else we need, according to Eisenstein. The indulgence masks the pain we experience when other needs go unmet. The unfulfilled need for love, for connection, for self-expression and empowerment cause pain and emptiness that we attempt to fill with the comfort of food. The first step toward change is identifying the underlying needs by paying attention to the emotions and physical feelings that eating elicits.

How to Learn Self-Acceptance

• Eisenstein posits that everything we are today is the result of our attempt to respond to experiences in the past. Reject the notion that humans are composed of good parts and bad parts. Instead, realize that everything we are is the perfect adaptation to our past. To transform the self, we must accept all aspects of our current state. Our desires and cravings, even those that seem to no longer serve us, once had a purpose. When we let go of judgment, we can begin to discover our deeper needs and explore more satisfying ways to fill them.

Does It Work?

• Transformational Weight Loss has not been clinically tested. However, reader reviews at Amazon.com suggest the philosophy is highly effective as a means to addressing the causes of overeating. One reader said, "This book is not what one would expect around losing weight ... it will surpass anything you can imagine." Another claimed the book had transformed her life. A third reviewer said the book showed her how to trust and respect her body and herself when it comes to food. No negative reviews were posted.