The Relationship Between Thinking About Weight and Losing Weight

Here’s your pop quiz for today: 1) Is there a correlation between how frequently you think about losing weight and the shedding of pounds? 2) Is there a correlation between how desperately you want to lose weight and losing it? 3) Does focusing, or worse, obsessing about losing weight actually help you lose it? I confess, I don’t know if there’s been research done on these questions, so you’re stuck with my take on this subject based on 30-plus years of experience working with people who are unhappy with their eating and their weight. To a person, I would say that one of the major impediments to “normal” eating, getting (and staying) healthy and fit, and becoming mentally healthy is over-focusing on weight. Losing weight is the end of a process, but if you’re not focusing on the process itself, you will never reach that end. Thinking about weight loss as a passive activity. Thinking about it is not creating change. There’s no behavior involved, no attitudinal shift, no challenge, and none of the discomfort that’s involved in altering eating habits, which is all about taking action. In fact, thinking about losing weight is too often a replacement for the more concrete and demanding practice of actually responding differently to food. Let’s face it, it’s so much easier to ruminate about weighing less than to do what is necessary for this to happen. Desperation is never a pleasant state and is far from conducive to effective problem solving. Think of...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Source Type: blogs