My Fat Head: The Psychology of Weight Loss: Unlocking the Secrets to Your Relationship with Food

My Fat Head: The Psychology of Weight Loss by Konrad van Staden.Unlock the Hidden Secrets of Your Relationship with Food, and Transform Your Body, Mind, and Life ForeverAre you trapped in a cycle of diets that fail, shame that lingers, and a body that feels like a stranger? In a world obsessed with quick fixes and extreme workouts, My Fat Head reveals the truth: obesity isn't a failure of willpower, it's a profound emotional story etched into your psyche, rooted in childhood bonds, cultural pressures, and unspoken wounds. Drawing from over 20 years as a psychologist treating eating disorders and bariatric patients, Konrad van Staden declares: "Obesity is not your fault, but it needs to become your responsibility." This groundbreaking book isn't another diet plan, it's a roadmap to holistic freedom, blending psychoanalytic insights, Jungian shadow work, and ancient wisdom like "Know Thyself" to heal the "fat head" that persists even after weight loss.Dive into the Rulebook for the psychology of food as a symbol of love, obesity's mind-body battlefield, and the Four Horsemen that sabotage success; diabetes, inflammation, pain, and depression. The Playbook empowers you with actionable tools: the "Tree of Life" metaphor to map your past traumas to future goals, incremental habits for gradual change, positive self-talk to rewire shame, and the Body Renewal Process to cycle sustainable lifestyle phases with short recalibrations, preventing burnout while fostering joy. In Contemplations, explore longevity secrets for mindful eating, guides for bariatric and reconstructive surgery as a rebirth, and real testimonials like Danielle's triumph over her "food demon."What makes this book different?Books on weight loss typically focus on changing the food you eat and your lifestyle behaviour and, by and large, are ineffective. We first need to delve deeper into understanding why food has such an emotional quality to it and why it operates at a level that is out of our awareness. Only then can we successfully change our relationship to food and the way we eat, and finally transform ourselves and ultimately, our bodies.Who is this book for?This book is for anyone who is: Struggling with their relationship with food and with their body; Contemplating bariatric/metabolic surgery or has undergone the surgical process; Dealing with some form of emotional eating; Caught in a cycle of repeated diets, constantly striving to get it right, yet unsure of what to do next, sensing that something deeper is at play after trying many different approaches; Ready to make a change and embark on a weight loss journey; And, Preparing and planning for a lifestyle change.This Book Will:• Help you develop a healthier relationship with food.• Foster a more conscious, aware relationship with your body.• Create a different attitude towards weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.• Provide insight into underlying thought patterns, behaviours, and emotional dynamics that establish, maintain, and perpetuate a negative relationship with your body, food, and weight loss.• Develop a way of living that extends beyond weight management into all areas of your life.• Support you in making bariatric surgery work for you and maintaining your post-surgery gains and lifestyle.Konrad van Staden is a Jungian Analyst and Clinical Psychologist in private practise in South Africa. He has over 20years’ experience as a psychotherapist working with obesity, binge-eating, and the deep psychological change required for healing.Konrad has been involved in the assessment and treatment ofbariatric surgery patients, both pre- and post-surgery. He workswith surgical teams and physicians to establish the psychologicalsupport and transformation process in each patient’s weight lossjourney. Read more