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About Cari Corbet-Owen
Expertise
I'd love to answer your questions about how to lose weight naturally --without diets, diet products and diet programs. I love to answer your questions about: intuitive eating, turning exercise into fun (instead of a chore) and how to improve your body image even before you reach some or other magical figure on a scale. Please note, that as I'm a psychologist and not a dietician, I don't answer any questions related to nutrition.

Experience
I'm a Clinical Psychologist who has researched diets and dieting and what works and what doesn't (in medical and psychological journals) for almost 2 decades. I'm the author of two books: The Mind over Fatter Program and The Joy-Filled Body: Eat! Play! Love and Live! I have written numerous articles spoken at psychological conferences, lead workshops internationally and been on TV and radio. I was a childhood dieter at 11, anorexic by 15, a frantic yo-yo dieter for 20 years before discovering that STOPPING dieting was the answer. My URL: www.ditch-diets-live-light.com

Organizations
Have been the consulting psychologist to the South African Nutrition Experts Panel, and am on the experts panel for Shape Magazine, South African Journal of Natural Medicine and the South African Journal of Psychology.

Publications
Shape, Readers Digest, Men's Health, Glamor, South African Journal of Natural Medicine, O magazine and many many others.

Education/Credentials
Clinical Psychologist

Awards and Honors
Been nominated for 2006 and 2007 as South African business women of the year in the Health category for starting The Mind over Fatter movement. Had an excerpt of my 2nd book selected by O Magazine (South Africa) which appeared in their December 2007 edition.

You are here: Experts > Health/Fitness > Eating Disorders > Nutrition & Dieting > How to handle weight gain of daughter

Nutrition & Dieting - How to handle weight gain of daughter

Expert: Cari Corbet-Owen - 10/30/2009

Question
Hello Cari,
My thirty daughter has been gaining a few pounds every year since college. My ex-wife, her mother, did the same thing. Now it seems that my daughter is using the same defense mechanisms and self-deception, e.g. "no time", "hate to run", etc. etc. It is hard to watch her spiral into this, as her mother did. My daughter is only about 15 pounds overweight, but her mother is about 60 pounds over. Should I just continue to shut up or should I say something? I have a good relationship with my daughter and of course want to continue that. She is married and has a two year old and she is very busy. When she was young she was super active, playing volleyball at a high level, but now she is becoming increasingly sedentary with each year.
In a quandary.
Thanks much,
Dave

Answer
Hi Dave, your daughter is lucky to have a Dad who cares... now the big question is how to get your caring across in a way that is perceived as the loving intention it is, in a way that is effective! So here's one thing that I find very commonly - nagging doesn't help, all it does it to get people's backs up, and we don't want to spoil your good relationship. So here's your challenge - she obviously used to love being active....what could you say or do that would remind her of how she once loved it? What kind of conversations would remind her of how vibrant, alive and healthy she felt when she was active? What would get her to look beyond busyness and look through different eyes at living an active life?

Here's my take on exercise - it has to be fun (you can read more about this at http://www.ditch-diets-live-light.com/exercise-fun.html)and it has to fit into her life otherwise it'll never get done and new Mom's are challenged with their many demands. Now here's another thing about mom's - I know that they will do practically ANYTHING for the health of their children including things they don't seem to be able to do for themselves. So I'm wondering how you can work through her two year old to help her regain her love of activity. My latest book, "Mom, pass the Broccoli' (if you want more details about it you can contact me through the contact page on my ditch-diets-live-light.com website) has wonderful fun ideas about how parents and children can be active together, pointing out that the most important factor in raising happy healthy children is the role-modelling provided by parents.

Kind regards
Cari

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