Psychologist’s recommendations for weight loss

So you’ve decided to lose weight. For many, these words sound like a mockery – there are so many acquaintances around who tried to do this using different means – diets, pills, exercise, but none helped; newspapers and magazines are full of offers to lose weight in a few days; full of expensive drugs – but all to no avail. So what’s the deal? Can You Lose Weight?

Let’s put the question in a different way:

What can you do to lose weight?

1. SET UP TO WORK HARD

From the very beginning, it is important to understand that there are no quick results. The main mistake of those who want to lose weight is the desire to do it very quickly (“Lose weight by three sizes in a week”). All methods of rapid weight loss, as a rule, are ineffective, and some are even dangerous to health. The second important mistake is the belief that someone (doctor, trainer, nutritionist, psychic) ​​will do it for you. Losing weight is a serious and mostly independent work. Take responsibility for this work.

2. CHOOSE QUALIFIED SPECIALISTS

If you decide to lose weight, abandoning the idea of ​​​​instant healing, and tune in to a sustainable result, contact trusted specialists. Usually weight loss is a team effort. First of all, it involves a dietitian and an endocrinologist who will help to form the right diet.

3. DON’T START ON MONDAY

Many people say to themselves something like this: “So, on Tuesday I did gymnastics, but on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – no. So there’s no point in doing it on Saturday, I’ll start on Monday.” This is a fundamentally wrong position. If you violated your regimen, diet or exercise system – that’s okay. This is not a reason to quit. It’s better to do something halfway than not do it at all.

For example, you ate something at dinner that disrupted your diet. It’s annoying, but it’s already happened. Return to your diet in the evening when you have dinner. You can scold yourself all you want for what happened, but that won’t help you. Just keep going.

You need to remember that the fight against excess weight is an undulating process and it will never be the case that you will drop a kilogram a week until you achieve the desired result. At some point, the gained kilograms may return (for example, you lost 10 kg, and then recovered by 6 kg). This is due to the fact that it is very difficult to quickly change the habitual decision of nutrition, and even more so the work of your body. We can say that you will take three steps forward and two steps back. And here the most important thing is not to give up and not despair. Tell yourself that falling back is completely normal and try to find the reason why you gained some weight again (it could be dietary errors, stress, the wrong daily routine, or something else).

4. LOOK FOR UNPLEASANT EMOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH OVEREATING

It is important to understand that being overweight is very closely related to psychological problems. Often people eat more than they need to get rid of them. Sometimes this is explained by the fact that a person cannot express his emotions, and mostly negative ones. For example, your boss yelled at you. You can’t answer him, so you go and eat some sausage sandwiches. Or another example – a wife, greatly offended by her husband, cannot afford to go for reconciliation and instead of trying to resolve the conflict with her husband, she receives comfort from her own refrigerator.

But why do people seek solace in food? Food is one of the main pleasures in our lives.

When a baby is crying or frightened, a serving of breast milk quickly calms him down. We are all children to one degree or another. But for some people, food becomes the only way to console themselves and enjoy themselves. This is due to many reasons, the main ones are ways to manage your feelings, which are accepted in the family.

5. TRACK YOUR EVERYDAY STRESS

You can often hear: “I don’t eat stress, I just eat a lot every day and that’s it. This is not entirely true. There may be some kind of constant irritant in your life – for example, dissatisfaction with work, problems in sexual life, lack of understanding with children, and so next Try to understand how you feel just before you overeat.For example, one woman, a housewife, found that she ate very, very much only on weekdays.By carefully monitoring her emotions, she suddenly realized that being at home alone, she feels a strong sense of loneliness thinks that no one needs it.And it was overeating that saved her from unpleasant thoughts to feelings.

6. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ADMIT PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

The next important step may be to seek psychological help.

Many people are embarrassed to seek help from psychologists and in vain. Finding your own emotions and thoughts associated with overeating can be difficult. But it’s even harder to change them. A qualified psychologist or psychotherapist who deals with this problem will offer you ways to detect and overcome negative thoughts and emotions associated with overeating.

Another important target is family problems. If you find that the stresses that cause overeating are family-related, contact a family psychologist or psychotherapist. Family therapy can help you and your partner see problems that you may not see yourself. Addiction is a common problem among overweight people. You can say that you are a rhyme addict if:

• You find it difficult to make independent decisions without consulting with other people
• You are afraid that you will not be able to cope with independent tasks at work
• You are very afraid that your partner may leave you.
• You do not object to your partner, friends, parents for fear that they will leave you or stop communicating with you.
• You are afraid to be alone.

Situations in which an addict feels uncomfortable are often accompanied by overeating as a way to relieve anxiety and discomfort. That is why addiction is one of the most important targets for working with a psychologist or psychotherapist.

7. CHANGE HABITATIVE WAYS OF BEHAVIOR

If you observe yourself, you will notice that there are certain ways to pass the time that are closely related to overeating. For example, you sit in front of the TV and eat chips. Or always eat when you cook for your family. Often this is again associated with getting pleasure. Try replacing these familiar ways with something else. For example, instead of watching TV, try walking more or spending this time with your friends. Look for new ways to have fun, try expanding your social circle, or find new interests in life other than work and food. Changing behavior is a very difficult task and the help of a psychologist or psychotherapist may also be needed here. This is especially true of addictive behavior, which we talked about earlier. At the same time, working with a psychologist, You also need to take steps on your own. For example, defending your own opinion over and over again in conflict situations, you can make sure that the consequences of this are not necessarily catastrophic for you.

8. REJOICE SMALL  RESULTS

A very common problem of modern man is unrealistically high demands on himself. Many people who want to lose weight are no exception. You can often hear: “I weighed 100 kg, I’ve been trying to lose weight for several months, but I only lost 5 kilograms. Is this the result?” And what happens in such a situation? You devalue your own results, your mood deteriorates, and as a result, you completely lose faith in success and the desire to continue dieting.

Therefore, it is very important to appreciate small achievements. Even if you have dropped one kilogram, this is already a victory. Let it be small, but if you were able to lose one kilogram, then you can lose two kilograms, and then ten.

One of the main points in your work with excess weight should be self-reinforcement. Simply put, your performance needs to be rewarded. The paradox is that very often it is delicious food that is for a person a means of encouraging himself. “Now I’ll come home from work and eat something tasty.” Now you have a completely different situation. You need to reward yourself, just for the fact that you did not eat what you wanted for a long time.

Try to find other ways to reward yourself. Do something that you have been wanting to do for a very long time but have been putting off: meeting with friends, going to the cinema to see your favorite movie, buying fashionable clothes.

9. LOSE WEIGHT TO LIVE, NOT LIVE TO LOSE WEIGHT

And finally, the most important thing. Weight loss is not an end in itself. Start living in a new way now, and not when you lose weight. It’s no secret that many obese people are very shy about their appearance and try to limit their contacts with friends, public appearances, etc. And many of these people have an attitude: “Here I will lose weight, I will start to look decent, then I will meet friends (or arrange my personal life).” This is a very big mistake. Start doing everything that is planned right now. We often attribute our own thoughts to others. Maybe. Your friends do not care what you look like, and they have long been unable to understand why you are avoiding them. But, only by meeting with them, you can be sure of this.

Of course, in your environment there can always be people who will pay attention to your excess weight, but believe me, these will not be all the people you encounter in life. Not all people evaluate you by the number of kilograms and appearance. Many of them care about your mood, someone is waiting for your help, and someone needs your professional knowledge. The most interesting thing is that if you communicate more, despite your fears, your mood will improve, and this will contribute to weight loss. Many women, trying to lose weight, go to extremes, bringing the body to complete exhaustion. One of the reasons for this is the unrealistic standards of beauty imposed by fashion magazines and television. Excessive passion for weight loss can be very dangerous for your health. Focus on your well-being and the recommendations of specialists. And remember that there are no absolute standards for “normal” weight. For example, you have lost a lot of weight, you feel great, but your weight is still 5 kg more than is “appropriate” for your height. There is nothing wrong with that! Better control your weight at this level and enjoy life.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!