A fattitude is a thought or pattern of thinking that leads to self-defeating behavior in weight management efforts. Fattitudes can lurk in the dark corners of your mind, exerting a powerful influence over your behavior and choices, even though they stay out of sight. Having hidden fattitudes is a lot like boxing with the Invisible Woman: You can’t see the punch, but you sure can feel the pain.

How do you know if you suffer with fattitudes? Here are some common symptoms:

· You can’t seem to stay on track with healthy eating

· It feels like there’s a war raging inside your body and mind

· Your exercise habit lasts only a few days or weeks

· Just when things are going well, something “happens” to knock you off course

· You want very much to slim down, but losing weight makes you feel anxious

· You sabotage your own success

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, fattitudes are so common they can be considered the universal obstacle to healthy weight management.

Some of the more prevalent fattitudes include:

· “I know there’s a quick fix out there, I just haven’t found it yet.”

· “This will never work.”

· “If I could just lose this weight, everything would be all right.”

· “My eating is out of control.”

· “I need my weight for protection.”

Fattitudes can even show up in intimate relationships, causing couples unwittingly to work together to ensure failure:

· “I need my partner to be fat (or weak or dependent) so s/he won’t leave me.”

· “If you can’t control yourself, I’ll do it for you.”

· “Let’s focus on your problems so we don’t have to look at mine.”

 The only way to achieve lasting success with weight

management is to find and foil your fattitudes.