Consciousness on a strict diet

Losing weight is not always easy. However, it is even more difficult not to gain weight again. According to statistics, 75% of those who want to lose extra pounds achieve results in the first months. But after a few years, 80-95% of those who have lost weight recover again. It turns out that any attempt to go on a diet is doomed to failure?

“I don’t see the point in ordinary weight loss anymore,” says Angelica, 42, a bank employee and a big connoisseur of various weight loss methods. – Diet not only changes the body, but also turns the mind. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t get it.” Losing weight forces us to consciously overcome the resistance of natural weight regulation mechanisms, turn off the neurohormonal system that protects fat reserves.

Obsession with the idea of ​​losing weight

Starting to lose weight, we enter a special internal state: we abstract from the sensations of hunger and satiety, we force ourselves to forget about high-calorie foods – the most desirable for a hungry person. Obsessed with the idea of ​​losing weight, we stop noticing what is happening to us and our body.

American researchers Peter S. Erman and Janet Polivy called this condition “cognitive limitation.” It is not easy to stay in self-control mode for a long time: it is enough to allow yourself only a little forbidden product and it will be almost impossible to stop. Relapse is followed by guilt. Wanting to get rid of it, we restrict ourselves even more strictly in nutrition. This scenario is typical of “cognitive limitation”.

Ehrman and Polivy discovered and described many situations that can provoke a losing weight person to uncontrolled eating. These are primarily strong emotions, depression or stress. Minor events associated with physical or psychological discomfort can also unsettle you: accumulated fatigue, a small cold, or even a glass of wine that you had to drink for the health of a friend.

Why do some people gain weight faster than others?

The feeling of satiety or hunger allows the body to control its energy supply. When we lose weight, the feeling of hunger intensifies, and we want more high-calorie foods. The body begins to work in an economical mode, assimilating as many nutrients as possible and reducing our need for movement. Therefore, even limiting themselves in nutrition, many continue to gain weight.

For some people, the body is initially programmed to work in an economical mode, and then it becomes even more difficult for them to lose weight. Otherwise, the mechanism of weight gain is the same for everyone: we eat without feeling hungry, ignoring the signals that the body is full.

Inefficient Methods

Diets and weight loss strategies try to keep us in a state of cognitive limitation. By acting in different ways, they are designed to reduce the need for certain products. However, this mechanism is ineffective: at first we tightly control our nutrition, then we break down and compensate for the lost kilograms in excess. Here are some tricks of popular techniques.

Guru Identification. Many people who want to lose weight begin to identify with an authority figure in the field of nutrition. Usually this is a nutritionist or someone who has already managed to lose weight.

“I believed in Montignac’s system because he, like me, had to eat regularly in restaurants, and he experienced the consequences of this,” says 34-year-old Mark. 26-year-old Marianne was inspired by the protein diet: “She helped Isabelle Adjani, whom I admire, so why not help me?”

And 35-year-old Anna believes only her nutritionist: “I was fed up with “miraculous” diets: you lose weight, and then you double your weight. And I immediately liked this man – serious, with several diplomas. Since then, I have been monitoring my nutritional balance. Every time I want something harmful, I ask myself: how would he react to this? It helps you resist temptation.”

Turn food into a ritual. “What I like about the Madeleine Gesta system is that it allows you to eat honey and dried fruits between main meals. I chew these pieces with pleasure, feeling almost religious. It helps me stay calm,” says 22-year-old Alina, who is optimistic about starting her third major diet in her life.

Some techniques turn meals into special rituals. In part, they make it easier for those who want to lose weight, but their observance hides the same strict self-restraint. Often it becomes a real obsession.

“When I happen to eat even a tiny piece of a product that is not on the permitted list, I panic,” continues Alina. “It could negate the result of a week of effort!” So I take precautions in advance: I even return home by a roundabout way so as not to pass by the market.”

Dangerous method. Among those who want to lose weight, “magic pills”, the use of pseudoscientific equipment, electromagnetic or ultrasonic devices are popular. Such methods are mostly powerless or even dangerous. The main mechanism of their action is the placebo effect, based on a person’s belief in the effectiveness of treatment.

Ignore “bad” foods. One of the most effective tricks is to convince yourself that “problem” foods are simply inedible.

“The potato doesn’t exist for me anymore. Montignac said well: this is food for pigs,” says 40-year-old Alexander. For the famous Dr. Atkins, refined sugar was a terrible poison. He argued that humanity began to have health problems at the very moment when people began to eat carbohydrates.

The latest hobby of 28-year-old Maria, who goes on a “serious” diet about once a year and as a result has gained 10 extra pounds over the past 20 years, is the Susan Powter system, which claims that all evil is in fat. “Now I feel genuine disgust at the thought of fatty foods. I associate them with my own fat, and I hate it.”

Ignore limitations. Some weight loss methods exclude some foods from the diet, allowing the unlimited use of others.

“With the Powter diet,” Maria continues, “I don’t have to limit myself, I even eat more than usual. When I feel like it, I can arrange a real orgy of whole grain cereals, rice or steamed wheat. By the way, you can add a small piece of fish or boiled meat to this. I’m eating my fill!”

This pseudo-permissiveness is attractive, but the forbidden foods sooner or later turn into a forbidden fruit, again threatening to disrupt the diet.

The secret to being overweight

And what if you don’t cut your favorite foods from your diet, but continue to eat tasty food, but in smaller quantities? This method seems simple and effective. However, it is important not only to change eating habits, but also to reconsider your attitude to food, which is much more difficult.

For a long time, food was for us a universal defense mechanism against difficulties. We eat when we’re not happy with ourselves, when we can’t handle boredom or repressed anger, when we’re too excited or too preoccupied. We eat not wanting to offend the one who offers us a treat. Sometimes we feel like punishing ourselves with food or rebelling against restrictions.

Therefore, in order to get rid of extra pounds, you may need the help of not only a nutritionist, but also an experienced psychotherapist. Diets, nutrition systems and methods provide only a temporary effect. For a long-term result, serious work on oneself is necessary, identifying the underlying causes of overeating.