Is My Attitude Towards Weight Loss Important?
The aspect of weight loss that many fad diets
overlook does not typically involve food selection, but rather, weight loss attitudes and
approaches to the experience of weight loss itself. Although
weight loss attitudes and weight loss approaches may not seem nearly as
important as food selections during weight loss, scientific research tells us otherwise.
Put most simply,
weight loss only seems to work when we treat it like part of our
everyday lives. Over and over, studies show that when we step out of our
lives to lose weight
our success is temporary
at best. Our weight loss under these circumstances may last for months, but never for years and years.
What does it mean, to “step out of our lives?”
On many weight
loss diets, it means
giving up one of the most
natural of human
pleasures— the pleasure of eating! It means giving up the delicious
tastes and aromas of food, giving up the pleasures of robust,
shared meals with family and friends, and giving up
our very self-determination with respect to food choices and food portion
sizes. Many weight loss diets ask us to temporarily step out of our lives and to turn our lives
completely over to a predetermined script not of our making. We are often asked to build our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
around prepackaged foods that we didn’t
select, cook, or even choose from a list of favorites. By letting
someone else make all of these deci- sions for us, and by stepping out of our normal role as human beings whose everyday lives include
the joys of eating, we are told that our chances of losing weight will improve.
Research studies repeatedly show that weight loss works best when
we practice self-determination and self-regulation in our everyday food choices, when we enjoy the
foods we eat, and when we make healthy lifestyle choices at every step along the way during weight
loss. Here is one very
specific but telling
example from a fascinating
study that compared intake of solid versus
liquid foods in obese and non-obese individuals.
In this study,
risk of excess calorie intake was studied in forty participants who
alternated between consumption of a variety of foods in both solid and liquid
form. On the solid side were foods like watermelon, cheese,
and coconut meat. On the liquid side were
foods like watermelon juice, cow’s milk,
and coconut milk. In this study, half
of the participants were obese and half were healthy in body weight.
Interestingly, the risk of consuming excess calories was only modestly greater
in the obese versus healthy
weight participants. What
overshadowed the role of body weight in this study was the role of food texture
and food form (liquid versus solid). Participants were most likely to overeat
when consuming liquids versus solids—regardless of whether the food involved was a high carb food (watermelon), a high-protein food (dairy), or high-fat
food (coconut). From my
perspective, it’s not surprising that
liquids left these participants wanting more; the crunchy and chewy and indescribable textures
of food are part of our eating
enjoyment! Without these amazing textures and without the relaxed savoring of our food through chewing, we feel like we’ve been
robbed.
It’s difficult to overstate the
benefits of normal, everyday life circumstances for healthy and successful weight loss. We’ve reviewed
studies that look at “the family index,”
studies that examine social support groups, and studies that focus on
“flexibility in dietary restraint.” All
of these studies point to one inescapable conclusion: the more we bring our
everyday lives—including family, friends, and social networks—into our weight
loss strategy, the better our
chances of success. And when we give ourselves
permission to be human and to make some mistakes
while enjoying the natural pleasures of food, we optimize our
weight loss chances.
There is actually
one new approach to weight loss called the HAES
approach (Health at Every Size) that has evolved
to capture some aspects of the attitude described above. In the HAES
approach to weight loss, individuals become “health-centered” rather than
“weight-centered.” Instead of stepping out of their lives to follow some
temporary and unfamiliar diet plan, individuals step further into their lives by focusing on long-term lifestyle
habits. They also insist on being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle
regardless of their body size on any given day. This is resonant
with my perspectives
related to the Healthy Weight Loss – Without Dieting; it’s not
a diet but a way of life where you enjoy delicious tasting nutrient-rich foods.
As you can see from all of the examples described above, our weight loss attitudes are just as important
as the foods we choose to eat. While making a place for low-calorie,
nutrient-rich foods in our weight loss
diet, we must also make room for ourselves!
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