Are you as an overweight woman who is hypersensitive to external food cues? You probably are. In other words, it might not take much for something you see, smell, hear, feel, and taste (of course) to kick off wanting to eat and going ahead and starting to eat with that pattern of eating that has been putting weight on.

Those are food cues. But there are lots of other cues that set off the desire to eat. Just look around you and you’ll see what they are. There’s the clock—whether you’re hungry or not. There’s the night, after you’ve put in a long, hard day. A reward is in order. There are emotional situations. Being yelled at by your husband. Not understood by a friend. Worked too hard by your boss, and you dare not speak up about it. A failing relationship here. A blown chance for redemption there. Lots of non-food cues to set off that eat or be eaten habit pattern.

Food cues are one thing. If you’re an overweight woman, food cues are everywhere making it difficult to lose weight. Emotionalized cues are another thing. If food cues are everywhere, then emotionalized cues, if you’re an overweight woman, are everywhere too—and they are much more prevalent. That’s your hypersensitivity factor. It makes it seem as if you’re surrounded with no escape in sight. You simply can’t get away from those cues. And it’s weight-loss failure once again for you.