Body image.  It is what you think of your own body.  Like it? Love it? Hate it?  Many people trying to lose weight have a negative body image, but some are more positive.  As you might expect, feeling badly about your body can increase your motivation to lose weight.  Let me say that another way – negative body image is more motivating than a positive body image, because you want to change so much more when you dislike the body you have.

So would it surprise you that for overweight people, those with a negative body image actually lose less weight than those with a positive body image?  How could that be?  Less motivated but more successful?  Yes it’s true, and a great example of the Energetive approach.  This is why we use a scientific approach, because sometimes the truth is surprising!

To help you to understand, let me ask you a question: Do you get more accomplished on a day you are in a good mood or bad mood?  Most of us say we are more productive in a good mood.  Well, guess what, the same is true for trying to lose weight.  Feeling badly about our body actually saps us of energy, leading to failure, because we feel “down”.  Feeling good about your body is energizing and actually helps you to be successful with exercise programs and diets.  Ironic isn’t it?

So what do you do?  That’s a harder question but experts suggest learning to pay less attention to your body image if it is getting you down, or trying to improve your body image.  Both are possible with cognitive interventions and education.  As a quick example, body image can improve by realizing that excess weight is a sign of an efficient and healthy body, and results from genetic programming that was previously essential for our survival.  In other words, your body is working exactly the way it’s supposed to!  How can you think about it less?  Realize that your body will soon change (by losing weight), so worrying about how it looks now isn’t really worth it, and making yourself feel bad never helps.  You can actually choose to feel better and give yourself a break, then succeed because of it.

The best part?  When you achieve the body you have always wanted – you will feel great about it, making it easier to stay that way!

References

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High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is NOT food. It is an unnatural manufactured product. HFCS is bad for you, but don’t take my word for it. Medical researchers far more qualified to speak on the topic have concluded that “HFCS appears to be a serious contributor to the worldwide obesity pandemic and cardiovascular diseases” (Ferder, Ferder, & Inserra, 2010). HFCS makes you feel good today, hungry tomorrow. The primary ingredients of HFCS are glucose and fructose. In most cases it is about 55% fructose, but can be lower or higher (up to 90% fructose) depending on how it is manufactured and mixed. Both of these sugars are safe to eat and are found in natural foods such as ordinary sugar, fruit, [...]

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