I think you have a problem with food, mmkay?

Most of the time, obsessive behavior and compulsive thinking about food have nothing to do with food. They have everything to do with your self-image. It's just that the battlefield you've chosen is food. It's where you've chosen to exercise tight control in hopes that none of your underlying fears and emotions will creep up on you.

People often use food as a control mechanism. Having an obsession with food and controlling your intake of it can be a substitute for having command over what you really want to control: how you feel about yourself.

Understand that ending obsessive behavior with food sometimes isn't the answer to the problem because it doesn't deal with the root of the problem: internal dialogue that says you're a bad person if you don't weigh a certain amount. You need to change your internal dialogue.

I recommend you read my books The Ultimate Weight Solution: The Seven Keys to Weight Loss Freedom, and the New York Times bestseller The Ultimate Weight Solution Coookbook: Recipes For Weight Loss Freedom, as well as The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide. My books have been published in 37 languages with over 22 million copies in print.

You should also log on to my website Dr. Phil.com and click advice, then weight.

I also have a nationally syndicated TV show, and I'm on Oprah.

You should also join my Weight Loss Booty Camp. You'll get this cool T-shirt.