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Thread: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

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    God/dess Will's Avatar
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    Default Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Does Your Mind Stop You From Losing Weight?




    It’s interesting to note; the single most important factor to not just getting the weight off, but keeping it off, is between our ears. That is, how people approach the issue, psychologically speaking, is an essential component of success. And yet, 8 zillion weight loss books and programs out there, and at best, this aspect of weight loss gets lip service only.


    Many diet programs out there don’t address the psychological aspect of why people fail to be successful with long-term weight loss. However, quite a few studies exist that have looked at just that. In many respects, the psychological aspect is the most important for long-term weight loss, and probably the most underappreciated component.


    Studies that compare the psychological characteristics of people who have successfully kept the weight off to people who have regained the weight, see clear differences between these two groups. For example, one study that looked at 28 obese women who had lost weight but regained the weight that they had lost, compared to 28 formerly obese women who had lost weight and maintained their weight for at least one year and 20 women with a stable weight in the healthy range, found the women who regained the weight:


    Had a tendency to evaluate self-worth in terms of weight and shape
    • Had a lack of vigilance with regard to weight control
    • Had a dichotomous (black-and-white) thinking style
    • Had the tendency to use eating to regulate mood.

    The researchers concluded:


    The results suggest that psychological factors may provide some explanation as to why many people with obesity regain weight following successful weight loss.”

    This particular study was done on women, so it reflects some of the specific psychological issues women have – but make no mistake here – men also have their own psychological issues that can sabotage their long term weight loss efforts. (6)


    Additional studies on men and women find psychological characteristics such as “having unrealistic weight goals, poor coping or problem-solving skills and low self-efficacy” often predict failure with long term weight loss. (7) On the other hand, psychological traits common to people who experienced successful long term weight loss include “…an internal motivation to lose weight, social support, better coping strategies and ability to handle life stress, self-efficacy, autonomy, assuming responsibility in life, and overall more psychological strength and stability.” (


    The main point of this section is to illustrate that psychology plays a major role in determining if people are successful with long-term weight loss. If it’s not addressed as part of the overall plan, it can be the factor that makes or breaks your success. This, however, is not an area most nutrition programs can adequately tackle and should not be expected to. However, the better programs do generally attempt to help with motivation, goal setting, and support. Lack of support is one important issue I identified early, having personally trained so many people, and getting feedback from my articles, etc.


    If you see yourself in the above lists from the groups that failed to maintain their weight long term, then know you will need to address those issues via counseling, support groups, etc. Don’t expect any weight loss program to cover this topic adequately but do look for programs that attempt to offer support, goal setting, and resources that will keep you on track.


    Note: the above is a modified section from a longer article called “The Big Picture of Permanent Weight Loss.” More info on the topic of successful long term weight loss, the citations from the studies mentioned above, etc can be found in that article if interested.
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    Featured Member sxcbbw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Psychology affects people's success in absolutely everything. It's probably why I have 70lb weight fluctuations.
    Get the fuck off my harbl, yo'.

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    God/dess Will's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Quote Originally Posted by sxcbbw View Post
    Psychology affects people's success in absolutely everything. It's probably why I have 70lb weight fluctuations.
    Possible. Do you find you fit into that list above? The psych aspects are all but ignored by many in their own programs, yet it's what will account for their success, at least long term.
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    Featured Member sxcbbw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Quote Originally Posted by Will View Post
    Possible. Do you find you fit into that list above? The psych aspects are all but ignored by many in their own programs, yet it's what will account for their success, at least long term.
    A lot of people will attribute the psychology aspects to willpower/motivation.

    And no, I fit into the eating disorder thing.
    Get the fuck off my harbl, yo'.

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    God/dess Will's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Quote Originally Posted by sxcbbw View Post
    A lot of people will attribute the psychology aspects to willpower/motivation.
    Which is an aspect of it, but as you know, it's MUCH more complex then that.

    Quote Originally Posted by sxcbbw View Post
    And no, I fit into the eating disorder thing.
    Understood. I hope you are addressing that and I wish you well with it. It's not easy.
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    Featured Member sxcbbw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Quote Originally Posted by Will View Post
    Understood. I hope you are addressing that and I wish you well with it. It's not easy.
    If it was easy we'd all be doing it, thank goodness it's not! I'm vaguely addressing it, therapy's addressing bigger things at the minute because I'm eating at the minute.
    Get the fuck off my harbl, yo'.

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    God/dess Paris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    I don't like this. The reason why is that it blames the fat person for being fat, because in our culture mental illness is viewed as a weakness in character, just like obesity is viewed as a weakness in character.

    The physical condition of our bodies have so many factors influencing the outcome. Sure, psychology is a big part of it, but I've known people to get bariactric surgery and they seemed to have no problem keeping the weight off.

    A larger issue at hand is the pollution and additives that effect our food. I've done a very small experiment in my own home. My cats used to eat regular old cat food (Science Diet). They were fat. My vet would tell me that I needed to put my cats on a diet. Fine, so I purchased "diet" cat food, and that didn't seem to do a darn thing. Then I bought organic food for my cats and purchased the Wilderness Formula that contained higher levels of protein to mimic how cats in the wild eat. Crazy thing, my cats lost weight and have kept it off. (one has now passed, but the kitten is 11 years old and has her svelt and girlish figure still)

    Obviously, my cats have little control what and how much they eat. They eat what I feed them.

    Then I tried it again with human subjects: my family. My Stepson was a junk food junkie. His mom isn't a cook, so she would buy chips and cookies and crackers and prepackaged everything. He was a little chunky as a child, but the spare tire really started showing up when he was 13-14 years old.

    He moved in with us full time last fall. I don't keep crap in my house like boxed breakfast cereal or soda. He isn't deprived, we always have things like juice or sweetened ice tea available, I bake cookies or muffins or cake or (insert desert item here). He has desert everyday! He has also lost 20 pounds since last September and is starting to gain some nice muscle mass in his upper body. His skin is clearing up, too. I should note that he is not an athletic child. Most days his exercise consists walking to and from school and any household chores he has been assigned. Otherwise he is fooling around with video games or texting.

    We don't eat low fat or low carb or low sugar diets. We just eat natural food, no processed junk. My stepson noticed the difference right away in his weight. He later confessed that he would eat mostly crap over at his mom's house. Now he asks me if the food I make has high medium or low nutritional value, how much is ok for a particular item, etc.

    Our national obesity epidemic has more to do with the larger issue of how Americans live. We work more than any other population on earth. There are so many chemicals added to a large portion of our diet. Flavor and color enhancers, pesticide residue, GMOs and hormones and partially hydrogenated this and artificially sweetened that. Our diet has evolved much faster than the human population has had time to adapt to.

    That, I feel is the primary cause of the obesity epidemic. The psychological implications of who stays fat and stays fit is such a minor aside in the big picture, that it should only bear investigating as a whole person cure, not as the primary culprit.


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    Default Re: Psychology 101 of Weight Loss

    Paris, that is a very valid point you are making. Processed crap will most definititely influence your weight. I used to eat crap "diet" food when I was younger and was always on the heavy side.

    Now, I eat very healthy with 80% or so of my diet coming from the produce or fresh food isle. My weight is stable (although higher than I would like), and I exercise moderately instead of like a maniac. I attribute the weight to the healthy eating.

    However, the mental side will attribute to some loss or gain of weight. It has been proved time and again by researchers. You can't just refute scientific research as bull. Some credit should be given, right?
    "You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories -Stainslaw J. Lec

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