Strictly anecdotal, based on my own personal experience – but….I’m convinced that food overloading is really an attempt to correct a bad mood. Let me go further. People eat more than they actually need to, or even want to, in an effort to stave off depression.

But when you go on a diet, you feel deprived. Irritated. Upset. Can’t wait to reach your “desired weight” so you can go off the diet.

Okay. Simple logic—how about instead of the artificial forced march of dieting, substituting another feel-good habit for that donut? When I go out for a walk, I come back not only energized, but feeling terrific. Endorphins. Duh. Same sort of mood elevation that is produced by consuming chocolate cupcakes, or french fries. Without the calories.

So that brings me back to where I began (pax TS Eliot). Eating to the point of gaining lots of weight could become so yesterday by substituting a non-eating happy-making activity. Crochet, read, sing, paint, walk, garden, kiss.
“Dieting” is always an artificial road trip to disaster. Changing your lifestyle is just that – acquiring a new way of life.