WHY PSYCHOLOGY?
What above all else will make it possible for you to lose weight? It’s “getting yourself to do it.” That’s what. “Getting yourself to do it” is a psychological course of action.
As any woman will tell you, it is never just about food and eating. Food and eating are only a small part of the process. The woman who wants to shed her extra pounds must change certain patterns of behavior so she doesn’t have to fight against herself when she’s trying to reduce her weight.
The familiar formula, Weight Loss = Diet + Exercise, needs to be modified to include psychology. After all, it is your psychology that will do the lion’s share of the work in losing weight. The new formula, Psychology + Diet + Exercise = Weight Loss, includes such matters as what it takes for you to adhere to a weight loss regimen and what it takes for you to make important personal changes that lead to weight loss.
Weight loss psychology is the nonfood plan for weight loss. The nonfood plan involves ways to deal with the all the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and automatic habits you developed that fight against you when you try to go on and stay on a diet or weight loss regimen. Just as the food plan or diet plan is knowing what to eat and how much to eat, the nonfood plan is about how to use psychology as your guide for making personal changes, adhering to your diet, reaching your weight loss goal, and staying there.
WHY NOT DIET AND EXERCISE?
Diets alone don’t work. There has to be somebody who works the diet. That somebody is you. And for you to stick to your diet you need to use your psychology. Sticking to it is such a significant factor that weight loss research has found it doesn’t matter what diet you go on. You can probably lose weight on any one of the diets available on the market. What matters more than anything else is whether or not you adhere to the particular diet or weight loss method you choose.
Exercise, despite its proclaimed importance for weight loss, has been shown through solid research that it does not cause weight loss. The energy out through exercise, even if you were to stay true to a daily exercise routine, can in no way equal the energy you take in. If the average calorie burn is 200 to 300 Kcals an hour, all it takes is one doughnut to erase the effects of exercising. Exercise, however, is indeed good for your health, just not good for weight loss. Exercise is also an excellent motivator and in this sense it can help you want to lose weight.