Media
CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone/Fax: 941-379-9849 (Sarasota, FL)
Email: kkoeniglicsw@comcast.net
Websites: http://www.eatingnormal.com,
http://www.nicegirlsfinishfat.com
Karen R. Koenig—eating coach, psychotherapist, national educator, motivational speaker, and international author of four books on eating and weight—is an expert on the psychology of eating. A recovered chronic dieter and binge-eater, she now teaches others how to think and behave sanely and sensibly around food to maintain a comfortable weight for life without dieting. She lives and practices in Sarasota, FL.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is the psychology of eating? Is Karen a dietician or a nutritionist?
Answer: A licensed cognitive-behavioral therapist, Karen has Masters’ degrees in social work and education. She helps people change how they think, feel and behave around food, including targeting the underlying motivations and conflicts about eating healthily and slimming down that keep them stuck or sabotaging their progress. Overeating is not just a physical problem. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a proven method of altering behavior permanently and the treatment of choice for recovery from eating disorders.
2. What does Karen have to say that’s controversial or different from other “eating” experts?
Answer: Karen is part of the anti-diet movement that has been around worldwide since the late 1970s. Fact: 95% of people who diet and lose weight through dieting, gain it back and 90% regain more than they originally lost. Diets don’t work long term because they slow down metabolism and make people feel deprived and frustrated (and cranky). About one-quarter of U.S. adult males and nearly one-half of females are dieting on any given day, but some two-thirds are overweight. Something is very wrong with this picture. With 30 years of experience, Karen knows why: the key to avoiding self-sabotage with food and exercise and promoting sustained behavioral change is resolving our hidden fears and mixed feelings about eating healthily and slimming down.
3. Why don’t we just eat healthily and exercise regularly?
Answer: First off, we dislike being preached to about what we should and shouldn’t eat and, therefore, rebel—at our own peril. We eat on the straight and narrow for a while, get fed up with how hard it is to pass up favorite foods and sweets and treats until we cave in, sabotaging success without understanding why. Second, because fear trumps desire, we’re often scared of looking too attractive or sexual, of the perceived hard work and deprivation of saying no to foods we love, of failing to keep weight off, of not having food as an emotional crutch, or of feeling undeserving of success and happiness.
4. Don’t overeaters and overweight people simply lack will power, self-control, and self-discipline?
Answer: We need to stop oversimplifying. The subject of why, what, and how much we eat is enormously complex and involves genetics, hormones, brain chemistry, self-esteem, relationship dynamics, learned behaviors, mood disorders, stress, and trauma, among other factors.
5. What should people do to eat “normally” and change permanently around food?
Answer: Most folks know what and how much to eat because we’re relentlessly bombarded with that information. We need to learn life skills to stop emotional and stress-related eating and to recognize the psychological/emotional obstacles that are in the way of maintaining a consistently healthy lifestyle. Most of us would benefit from hearing less nutritional, fitness and health advice and more about our hidden fears and mixed feelings about getting healthy and keeping weight off.
Karen’s favorite topics for interviews and keynote speeches, workshops, and wellness seminars include:
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“Why Diets Don’t Work and How to Become a ‘Normal’ Eater”
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“How to Stop Sabotaging Your Eating and Weight Goals”
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“Essential Life Skills for Problem Eaters”
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“Why Nice Girls Finish Fat”
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“Love Your Body at Any Weight”
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“Is Your Hubby or Wife ‘Making’ You Fat?”
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“Quit Fighting with Food”
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“Stop Feeding Your Emotions and Start Feeling Them”
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“How to Go on Vacation Without Gaining Weight”
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“How to Eat Sanely During the Holidays”
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(for clinicians) “What Every Therapist Needs to Know About Treating Eating and Weight Issues”
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(for clinicians) “A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Treating Overeating and Overweight”
3 DECADES OF MEDIA EXPERIENCE
TV. ABC-TV7 Healthsmart with Heidi Godman, Fox TV Morning Show, WHDH-TV News, Community with Annette Scherman
RADIO. Jordan Rich Show, It’s All About Health, Frankie Boyer Show, Women’s Watch, Talk of the Sun Coast, Cooking in Paradise, AM Show, Reality and Beyond, Michael Dresser Show, Rick Anthony Show, Mona Miller Show, Frankie Boyer Show, Dr. Robyn Show, Thought for Food, Breakfree Beauty, Relationships 101
PRINT. Ladies Home Journal, In Touch Magazine, Self Magazine, OK! Magazine, Bradenton Herald-Tribune, The Bulletin, Roslindale and West Roxbury Transcripts, Patriot Ledger, Newbury Street and Back Bay Guide, Commuter Week, Scene Magazine, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Women’s Health Magazine, Positive Change Magazine, Attitudes Magazine, Creative Loafing, Weight Watchers, Shape Magazine
BOOK REVIEWS. Ladies Home Journal, Midwest Book Review, Port Charlotte Sun, NASW Book Reviews, Reader Reviews, Featured in Publishers’ Weekly
PODCASTS. (Give these MP3 files time to load.) VoiceAmerica, Psychology Podcasts, RadioEarAmerica
