The psychology of losing weight

Following our last posts on goal setting I thought it would be interesting to discuss the psychology side of losing weight. Psychology of weight loss is so important because if you don’t have this right you will not lose weight.

Many men and women who are overweight tell people they don’t care about being overweight that is why they stay overweight, many very slim people say they don’t care about building muscle, they are not into gyms or that they don’t see the point.  Often people say this to show other people they are confident about their body and they are also telling themselves they are confident about their body, but actually more often than not they hate their bodies.  It is important to address this psychology side of weight loss for the primary reason that if you are kidding yourself that you are happy being overweight why will you try and lose weight, you have to want to lose weight and admit to yourself you are not happy being in this shape.  This is very hard for a lot of people because we don’t like to admit these things about ourselves, it is ok for some of us who are a bit overweight to tell people I want to lose a few pounds because most people say this, but if you are really obese can you really tell people I hate my body?

The next stage is when people are trying to lose weight, they have told themselves they are not happy being overweight and now is the time to make a change.  Often a bit into the training they give up because they don’t get instant results and then they go back to telling themselves its too much hard work I would rather be overweight than put myself through that and that is what they also tell other people.  A good personal trainer helping someone along through the weight loss process will notice this mentality occurring and will reassure their client they are doing the right things and remind them of their goals when they came to them.  When ever I talk to a new client I always ask them why they want to be slimmer getting them to say out loud what they want, I then get them to write it down and keep it.  I ask them to write down how being overweight makes them feel and what being in shape will make them feel like. When they come to the stages of wanting to give up I remind them to look at this paper and remember the reasons, this is what keeps them on track.  When drug addicts or smokers try and give up they are battling with the pros and cons of giving up, most smokers don’t give up because they still actually like smoking the same with drug addicts they still actually enjoy the drugs, it is only when smokers notice they can hardly breathe when walking up stairs or drug addicts have lost all their money and their friends and family do they work hard to stop.

People who fall into the obese category are often from a family of obese people, why is this?  For example, take a family where the father is obese and has been all his life, his wife is obese and has been all her life and so have their two children a boy and girl.  The daughter in the family who is 14 years old and obese decides to lose weight because she may find she is not getting enough attention from the boys at school so thinks by losing weight she can improve her chances of getting a boyfriend.  To lose weight the daughter starts the gym and starts watching her food.  It is unlikely she would have had any encouragement from the family to lose weight so would have to do it herself.  If she had come from a family with two fit healthy parents they would have probably watched the food more carefully they were giving her and encouraged exercise.  However in her family they wouldn’t encourage exercise as they don’t do it and her food would be picked by her mother doing the weekly shop and more than likely this food is high in fat.  The mother since the children were little would most likely have gone around saying “I am happy the way I am”when asked about her weight, the children will then have copied her actions and responses.  If the daughter now goes on to lose weight and gets a nice boyfriend and feels better about herself, she will then tell her family reguarly how good she feels.  This will either anger the family and they will say they are happy the way they are and don’t need her preaching to them or will be encouraged by what she has done and try to follow in her foot steps.

As people get older who have been overweight for many years they can take one of two attitudes to their body.  One, I have been like this for years and life hasn’t been too bad no need to change now.  Two, I am getting older and I do want to live a lot longer, at my age at this weight I could run into some health problems I better lose weight.  Option two thinkers are very common clients of ours, option one thinkers need to be made aware of the risks and aware of the extra benefits they could have.  There is also another type of person the person who has been overweight their whole life but doesn’t want to change because he or she is scared if they do they will regret not having done it years earlier.  There is no point looking back at the past you can’t change but if you can change now and have the chance do it now, then go for it.

Another common factor why people don’t lose weight is because they believe they can’t so learn to accept the way they are, these people will also be unhappy with their body but say they are happy with their body to other people because they can’t see a solution.  This may be because they have tried working out without getting results so stopped or have never tried so don’t know.  If their family are all very overweight they may think genetically they can’t.  I have often come across people who have come to My Fitness Studio who suffered thyroid problems of polycystic ovaries and believed they couldn’t be slim, this is not the case, with the correct medication and maybe having to workout harder than the average person you can build a great body.

When we actually look at these scenarios like I have mentioned above we can see why so much of Britain is out of shape.  Be aware of the dangers of being overweight and be aware of the great benefits of being in shape and make a change today.  Talk to our personal training team by calling 02089603655 and we will get you on the right track.

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