How can I change my eating habits if I am a compulsive overeater?

You first get honest about what's in your plate, and then that will generate to other areas of your life.

You get to see how honest you are. [CALM MUSIC]

We do try to limit our sugar and refined carbohydrates. Not forever, not for a lifetime, but basically,

to see what a big play they have in our lives and how they do affect us and to see how difficult it

is to get off of them. That doesn't mean that you might not have them from time to time. But you'll develop an acquaintance with withdrawals.

And you'll know how hard it is, so if you decide to eat these things you'll maybe ask again a few times is it going to be worth it.

Sometimes it may be. Sometimes it isn't. But even though I would say that certain substance to limit--

what's more important is that you try to become more public in your eating. Most of us who have food obsessions

are very private, secret eaters. So the first thing to do when you're getting involved in any kind of a recovery program

is to get completely honest about your food. You first get honest about what's in your plate, and then that will generate to other areas of your life.

You get to see how honest you are. If you committed to yourself and someone else that you were going to have 2 cups of salad,

if you start jamming that salad into that cup to smash it down to have a mound of salad, even though it's salad,

it's dishonest eating. And that dishonesty gets to us. And we end up punishing ourselves

for not being straight about it. So going public often means having one person--

in the Overeaters Anonymous program, they call that your sponsor, having that one person that you are honest with about your eating behavior.

And that could be that you tell them the day before in advance how you're going to eat or you tell them the day after what your eating looked like yesterday.

But you stay rigorously honest, going public. That person's job is to witness your commitment to yourself.

They are not your judge and jury. And they are not your nutritionist outlining the proper food plan.

They are your witness. That is the most important thing you can do to start changing your eating.