This week, I have been steady losing inches and pounds and something odd hit me. I am a bit "upset" about not being able to fit into my clothes. Meaning that the clothes that I have been able to wear in the past or haven't been able to wear in the past, I can not fit them now (TOO BIG) and it is oddly bothering me. I know, I know, it sounds crazy right. I am starting to think that in the past this has been the mental state that has allowed me to stop my weight-loss journey because I didn't want to "Get too small" or "Not be able to wear my cute clothes". I have even tried to still wear my size 26 pants to class and feel like I have "saggy duke"! LOL! It is plain crazy to still try to wear pants that is clearly falling off you. I am realizing that it is not cute to wear clothes that are too big for you just as if it is not cute to wear clothes that are too small for you. Who would have figured!? It is not mentally healthy either. I sometimes think that I am still a size 26 when I am clearly in the 18-20 area now.
I think that this is great that I realized this now and will not turn back to the un-healthy living just because I want to fit in current clothes. I will be doing a huge closet sweep at the beginning of the year and donating the clothes to Good Will! By that time I should be down 25 more pounds (That is my goal at least) and I am sure that I will not be able to wear much in my closet.
I think that Psychology of weight loss may be an issue for a lot of people that have started the weight loss journey or wish to lose weight. I found a nice article on the Psychology 101 of long term weight loss from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article033.htm
Psychology 101 of long term weight loss
Many diet programs out there do not 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." (Byrne et al. 2003)[5].
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. (Borg et al. 2004)[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 (Byrne 2002)[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" (Elfhag et al. 2005)[8].
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 is 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. 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. do not 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.
So go ahead and take the steps to get started on your own weight loss journey! You can do it!
The Girly Engineer
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