Psychological components of losing weight: motivation to lose weight
The condition for successful weight loss is having a goal.
The condition for successful weight loss is having a goal.
But failures of previous diets cast doubt on her achievement. Millions of people suffer from a lack of motivation who want to lose weight, but do not know how to set themselves up to lose weight.
The realization that the process of losing weight is a long one significantly complicates the formation of motivation. Nutritionists advise comparing the long path to slimness with a journey.
Important! The process of losing weight will start relatively easily if you identify the final goal and determine the time frame. The goal of losing weight should be specific, important for the person himself, and directly related to the process of losing weight.
Going towards a goal without a break is difficult both physically and psychologically. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange “halts” for yourself - small (!) indulgences associated with significant events: birthdays, corporate parties, March 8th.
The main thing is to return to your eating plan the next day and continue to lose weight. This will allow you to avoid large-scale breakdowns and self-flagellation over a piece of cake eaten on your own anniversary.
The key to success is the right attitude!
So, how to start a diet and not fail?
Anyone who has managed to achieve results with a diet knows that starting to stick to a diet is the most difficult thing. After all, you need to eat foods that are not very tasty. I want a cake or chocolate, but I have to eat cereal, vegetables or drink kefir. For people who do not have certain skills and willpower, diet will not be a joy. Rather, they will become disheartened by unusual changes. Experts recommend preparing yourself psychologically so that the diet does not become a reason for stress, which will lead to excess weight gain and possible diseases.
Setting a weight loss goal
The goal of losing weight should be logical and feasible. The desire to achieve ideal parameters and weight loss limits will complicate the process and negatively affect your health.
The goal of losing weight should be logical and feasible.
The right weight loss goals are related to the following areas:
- Health. Excess weight provokes the development and complication of diseases associated with the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system. Obesity aggravates the course of diabetes and increases the risk of developing cancer. Excess weight is an additional burden on the body, which causes shortness of breath and worsens overall health. Being overweight makes it difficult to fully exercise.
- Personal life. Some men like plump women, but most prefer slender girls. The fact is that a positive reaction to a woman’s slimness is subconscious. A man subconsciously associates excess weight with psychological instability, a tendency to depression, and laziness.
- Job. Appearance is of great importance when hiring. Representative professions (flight attendants, secretaries, artists) require an appearance close to that of a model. The leading role of appearance is assigned to professions associated with direct social interaction. In other areas, there is no obvious discrimination based on appearance, but other things being equal, the employer is more likely to give preference to a slimmer candidate. A priori, a fat person is less prone to physical activity, more lazy, and weak-willed.
- Self confidence. Overweight people face open criticism or receive hostile glances from passers-by. Getting rid of complexes is the task of losing weight.
There are short-term and long-term weight loss goals. Short-term goals are clear: fit into a new dress, lose 2-3 kg on the eve of the holidays, achieve sports results. Achieving a goal in the short term promotes long-term motivation.
Take interest from others to achieve a record achievement
How not to go off the diet? Motivation will come from the advice of those who have gone through the “thorny path” of strict nutrition. These could be friends, work colleagues, next door neighbors and other people close to you. Don't be afraid to ask them what motivated them to overcome their obstacles to losing weight. Those experienced in dieting will share their experiences and successes, because “alone in the field is no warrior,” as the famous saying goes. This will make it much easier to bear the worries associated with the seriousness of this process.
Why breakdowns occur and what to do in this case
Breaking the diet involves eating foods prohibited by the diet and deviating from the correct diet. A breakdown is considered to be an increase in the amount of food consumed.
Moreover, a person does not always understand that he is harming himself and reducing the effectiveness of the diet.
Breaking the diet involves consuming foods prohibited by the diet.
The causes of failures are:
- Lack of motivation. It is necessary to form the correct perception of the diet in advance, to realize that losing weight involves a transformation of lifestyle, daily routine, and eating habits.
- Wrong target. The desire to acquire the figure of a 15-year-old girl at 30-40 years old can inspire, but not for long. A few days after starting the diet, the understanding will come that the goal cannot be achieved. This will lead to breakdowns and decreased motivation.
- Incorrectly selected power mode and menu. The choice of menu largely depends on your daily routine, work, financial capabilities, and food preferences. It is necessary to choose a diet that meets the listed requirements. If your work involves traveling and requires business meetings with partners over lunch or dinner, it will be difficult to maintain a strict diet. It is much more pleasant to eat right if the menu consists of familiar products and tasty dishes.
We won't go far without sports
If your weight has risen, you need to think about how to force your body to start losing weight again. This is where sports activities come to our aid. Nutrition and psychology will certainly play a role. Exercising will speed up this process several times and return the body to optimal proportions.
If you don't have willpower, see the first point. Of course, having completed all the steps that we discussed above, such a problem will not arise. You are moving towards your cherished dream and taking certain steps. You can also play sports at home. The main thing is to determine what your soul is about. The loads can be completely different, the main thing is that they exist.
Motivation can be updating some records, for example, in running, increasing the number of approaches, or lifting new weight. Everything is purely individual, so listen to your heart. It will tell you the best way.
4 more effective tips from a nutritionist on how to encourage yourself to lose weight
Psychological techniques will make a significant contribution to the formation of motivation, but preventive measures are no less effective:
- Don't fill the refrigerator with food. If there is a minimum of food in the refrigerator, the risk of a breakdown is reduced significantly, since there are no temptations.
- Go to the store with a list. The shopping list should include only healthy food products that are included in the diet menu. The task becomes much easier if all family members lose weight.
- Hike. Daily walks lasting 20-30 minutes will increase the effectiveness of the diet and allow you to occasionally treat yourself to a candy or supplement (no more than once a week).
- Get a dog. Your pet needs to be walked at least twice a day, even if you don’t feel like going outside at all. This is another reason to go for a walk.
How to start losing weight and not lose weight
In the last article, I promised to talk about what I realized in the process of my own weight loss and “coming to my senses.” I keep my promise. If you decide to change yourself, your appearance for the better, and your life for a healthier direction, you need to remember a few important rules.
One of the most important rules is not to set unattainable goals for yourself. Those. If you think - now I’ll lose weight to N kilograms, like I did at school, this is the wrong approach. And even more so, it’s definitely not worth setting someone up as an example. Especially the magazine “beauties” - I want to be like them. Or when an athletic woman suddenly wants to be like her asthenic friend. A woman losing weight should have another goal - to bring her body back to normal, to achieve a form that would not interfere with living a full life, but would help. And the improved appearance is, perhaps, such a pleasant bonus.
And, of course, you should pay attention to your health. And make a decision to lose weight based on the characteristics of your body. And, if you have diseases of the endocrine system, digestion, musculoskeletal system or heart disease, it would be good to consult a doctor so as not to harm yourself. And choose the type of nutrition and those physical activities that will be beneficial for you.
In order to increase motivation, and accordingly deprive yourself of excuses, it would be useful to get rid of some myths. There is a lot of information now; you can read articles, for example, about addiction to sweets and finally understand that not everything that the body seems to “require” is actually needed, much less useful. For example, the claim that chocolate helps with depression or low mood is increasingly being refuted by scientists, who argue that it only provides temporary relief, acting much like a drug. Those. After some time, the state of depression only gets worse. But this is one of the most common myths.
You also shouldn’t console yourself with phrases like “he who doesn’t smoke or drink will die healthy” or “while the fat man dries, the skinny man will die.” And even more so, with statements from the series “men are not dogs, they don’t throw themselves at bones”
