Stretch this, lift that, reduce your calorie consumption, no salt after 7, expel more energy….sounds familiar? Well, this is the typical weight loss advice all dieters hear about on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong. It’s all good advice. But until you consider your weight loss endeavor to revolve around food, exercise, and lifestyle….in short, as long as you treat your weight loss goals as a physiological challenge – you can only get so far.
While all of this is very important and having the right knowledge about them and the right equipment do play their part in the success, but the most important determinant that decides the success of your weight loss endeavor is your mind. Still the right psychology for weight loss is one of the rarely discussed topics by the industry experts. Hence, to lose weight is to first recognize that it’s a psychological process.
We all are very much aware of what we should do. But we still don’t do it. We’re all a lot more educated than ever before. But we’ve all been obese than ever before too. We’ve the best equipment now but we also have endless excuses now.
But as basic as all this may sound, it requires real work, sacrifice, self-control, and efforts. This is the reason why people continuously run to try out the latest weight loss pill that has launched or to buy the new book on 101 ways of losing weight. They want the quick fix, convenient, painless, and easy. They don’t want to accept that if good equipment and education had the answer to their obesity issues, we had not been the fatty generation.
So once you’ve made up your mind that you need the psychological fix up to get started with losing weight, you can start with the psychological approaches for long-term improvements in your diet and weight. The behavioral and psychological approaches discussed below not only help in changing actions, but also strengthen the confidence level and self image of dieters.
Behavior Management
Most dieters often have a habit of binge eating or indulge in over eating of unhealthy foods, especially when they are feeling low or are stressed. Conscious effort has to be made by these people to replace negative eating habits by constructive activities that actually address their emotional issue.
For example, taking a walk in fresh air with a friend can help you calm down when you’re feeling anxious or sad. You must also try staying away from food on particular times every day when you know you have a craving to munch something, or at least have something healthy ready with you.
Body Image and Self Esteem
When you have poor body image and low self-esteem, feeling positive and confident about your ability to lose weight might not come by easily. Consulting a psychologist can be a good idea in such cases to strengthen your self-esteem as well as chart out your entire success plan for weight management in the long haul. A realistic take on your weaknesses and strengths can help you set and achieve your reasonable weight loss goals.
Motivation and Support
Attitude and motivation can make a great difference to the efforts you put in to reach your goals. Find weight loss buddies who are ready to go exercising with you and share your plans. You may even join online weight loss forums or groups to interact with like-minded people and share your success stories and know about more tips that work for others and exchange feedback. The more you stay excited about your endeavor, the less likely you are expected to fall back on your prior unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits.
Reducing Stress
Apart from taking immediate measures to reduce stress like taking a walk and others, it is highly recommended that you incorporate yoga, meditation, jogging or deep breathing, into your daily routine. This can really help you in staying calm and avoiding emotional eating.
You might bookmark and read several blogs about fitness and blogs about diet programs every day but if you do not have control over the power of your mind, the foundation of your very goal is on dangerous grounds. Going for psychological counseling may seem like going too far, at first. But isn’t it worth finding out who/what your triggers are, that are sabotaging even your best weight loss efforts without you even realizing it? For all you know, the root cause of the problem might not be the wrong food choices but the peers or colleagues who often take you our maybe and doesn’t care about the calories as long as the food tastes good?
A counselor will help you maintain a positive outlook while making you stick to healthy lifestyle choices, ultimately taking you closer to your weight loss goals with every step until you’ve achieved them all.
Marcia Calleiro is a vegan and a successful weight watcher. Calleiro usually orders from any healthy meal delivery as they serve fresh, tasty and nutritious food. She combines this with her fitness program for overall fitness. In her spare time, she likes square-foot gardening, playing games on her Xbox, and spending time with her family. She is single and lives in serene, Michigan, USA. She is currently a contributor to Neufutur.com, an online lifestyle magazine.