Mental health issues are connected to effective weight management in ways that most individuals don’t understand. Many weight loss approaches involve nothing more than eating fewer calories and incorporating regular exercise.
However, psychological aspects make the initial difference between individuals who lose weight for good and those who suffer the consequences of yo-yo dieting. The good news for those struggling to lose weight is that certain mental health techniques can help improve outcomes.
Cognitive Reframing and the Power of Mindset Shift
How you think about weight loss is the core determinant of your ability to achieve your fitness goals. This is based on a concept in psychology known as cognitive reframing, a strategy borrowed from cognitive behavioral therapy, which is the process of identifying beliefs that limit your efforts and replacing them.
Losing weight is something that many people take on with a very negative mindset. When you work on cognitive reframing, you first assess the evidence for and against your beliefs, and then begin to work on cultivating more positive thought patterns.
You can challenge negative thoughts by replacing them with more positive ones. If previous diet attempts failed because none of them were productive, you now have more tools and support available for success. What you think will affect how you feel, and how you feel gets you to act.
To make this technique work within the context of your weight management program, you may also consider engaging health coaching professionals to help reinforce reframed cognitive beliefs. For instance, many comprehensive weight management programs, like TryShed, involve using health coaches who assist members in identifying and reshaping their mental blocks, stopping them from seeing progressive success.
Emotional Regulation and Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle
Emotional eating is one of the most common obstacles in effective weight reduction, but it comes from a mental health issue rather than being related to food. Emotional regulation is directly related to eating in response to stress, boredom, feelings of loneliness, or anxiety.
There are both physiological and behavioral connections between emotional regulation issues and visceral fat storage. By experiencing your emotions in an unprocessed form, the body stays in a state of chronic stress. This condition triggers an increase in the stress hormone cortisol, which hinders weight loss. Being stressed also means you’re more likely to turn to impulsive eating (Yaribeygi et al., 2017).
To make emotional regulation work more effectively, you need to be consistent in your efforts. This explains why some individuals seek organized assistance. For instance, you can work with accountability buddies, health coaches, and therapists to assist you in identifying the emotional patterns you might not notice on your own. They also remind you of the new strategies you developed for dealing with those emotions at the most critical moment.
Self-Compassion and the Antidote to the Shame Cycle
Perhaps the single most underrated mental wellness approach for effective weight maintenance is self-compassion; the ability to treat yourself the same way you would treat a friend struggling through the same problem.
People often judge their weight loss efforts from a place of perfectionism and self-blame. They think that by being extremely critical of themselves, they will somehow be able to get better results.
However, by being self-compassionate rather than self-critical in regards to setbacks, mistakes, or simply difficult situations, you keep yourself motivated and dedicated to achieving your personal goals. Research on self-compassion suggests that it leads to greater resilience, better stress management, and significantly greater adherence to health-promoting activities (Crego et al., 2022).
Practicing self-compassion effectively also might require external help through a supportive environment. It becomes easier to maintain self-compassion when you’re in an environment that promotes effort rather than perfection. This explains why people also report benefiting from having regular access to professionals like nutritionists, health coaches, or medical professionals.
Final Thoughts
Achieving and maintaining sustainable weight management requires you to be in a positive state of mind. You get better results when you approach it by using psychological skills, integrating medical components, and sticking to positive behavior. By mastering these mental health techniques, you build an internal environment that can help you see lasting changes in your body.
Sources
- Clark, D. A. (2013). Cognitive restructuring. In S. G. Hofmann, D. J. A. Dozois, W. Rief, & J. A. J. Smits (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of cognitive behavioral therapy (Vol. 1, pp. 1–22). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118528563.wbcbt02
- Crego, A., Yela, J. R., Riesco-Matías, P., Gómez-Martínez, M. Á., & Vicente-Arruebarrena, A. (2022). The Benefits of Self-Compassion in Mental Health Professionals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research. Psychology research and behavior management, 15, 2599–2620. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S359382
- Mayo Clinic Staff. (2022, December 2). Weight loss: Gain control of emotional eating. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047342
- Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI journal, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480
