Is weight loss in your future for 2016?

According to the January 2016 Gallup survey approximately 39% of people stated that in 2016 their New Year resolution is to lose weight. Given that over 2/3rd’s of adult Americans are overweight or obese, this statistic appears a bit low. Plus compared to last year, Americans making resolutions is down 44% from last year.

Could it be that we’re embracing a more realistic view when it comes to weight loss?

Embracing a weight loss mindset   …

My previous post looked at 3 strategies that increase chances of meeting goals such as weight loss. However, there is an undercurrent that affects every desire we have – mindset.

Mindset is the established set of attitudes held by someone.

We acknowledge that embracing a positive attitude ups the chances of success. We start the New Year with a mindset full of positive affirmations  and bucket fulls of hope. This is what propels us into the mindset to believe that we can change our behaviors  this time for good.

Armed with this belief we should be able to succeed at anything by maintaining our positive thoughts as we continue to live our everyday lives.

Than why does losing and keeping weight off  have such a high failure rate?

Can too much optimism sabotage weight loss goals?

Research by Dr. Janet Polivy and others has found that hope and optimism actually play a role in undermining our chances for success, especially when it comes to changing eating patterns. The research shows that being overly optimistic is a form of self-sabotage.

A cousin of over optimism is unrealistic expectations. These two attitudes result in giving up easily when the results don’t show up as quickly as expected. A by product of this is an eroding of motivation.

Recently, I spoke with a 60+ year old woman who started the conversation saying “I don’t have any motivation to change the way I eat.” After several questions it was clear that this woman was a “serial dieter.” Having tried everything from Jenny Craig to HCG to Weight Watchers. She claimed to never have the success the programs promised or the success of others she knew in the program.

Further discussion revealed that her expectations were lofty – a 30 pound weight loss in 3 months. That represents approximately a 2 1/2 pound loss every week; an amount that is not improbable but requires a major overhaul in food choices, etc.

Did I mention this woman was unable to engage in any type of regular exercise due to a medical challenge? Did I mention this woman lived alone and rarely left the house? Did I mention this women had a life long history of obesity?

Researcher Dr. Polivy has found that chronic dieters often fail to meet their goals and throw in the towel early rather than stay on course for the long haul. Even though these people started off with high hopes their expectations were out of line with the reality. She calls this the “false-hope syndrome.”

Four steps to reduce the “false-hope syndrome.”

First, recognize that having hope is a good thing if it’s realistic, especially for weight loss. Most importantly is not underestimate the amount of time weight loss takes to occur. There will be many peaks and valleys when taking on any type of behavior change.

Second, you can strengthen the feeling of hope by having a plan in place to jump start your new eating patterns. A specific plan is essential for everyday obstacles that reinforce old food choices.

Below are four steps to overcome the obstacles between you and your weight loss goals:

1. Don’t rely on just telling yourself “don’t” eat this. Research shows this doesn’t work. The word “don’t” is loaded with strong negative emotions. The willpower muscle that accompanies our “don’t” thoughts, begins the day full of vigor but by day’s end it pooped out. This is one reason why night time eating is problematic for many people and weight loss expectations aren’t met.
2. Think in terms of “if this occurs or happens, I do this or that.” For example, plan what action you will take when faced with your favorite food at work. This could mean having a healthier snack with you to avoid the temptation of the workplace goodies.
3. Take the stance that you’ll ignore the food or situation that cues you to eat. Research shows that saying “If I see donuts I’ll ignore them” actually works! The word ignore is not emotionally charged as don’t. To ignore is a choice and denotes personal power.
4. Plan to replace a habit that you want to change with an easy plan. Our habits are ingrained, ritualistic and on auto-pilot. A quick and easy alternative action is needed. For example, if you always have a bowl of ice cream in the evening when you watch TV, plan on having an alternative food available, like a low or non-fat, sugar free yogurt. No, it’s not exactly the same, but, this plan is easy to put into place, not requiring much mental energy to make the choice. As long as you have the yogurt in your fridge!

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em

The immortal words of Kenny Rogers are applicable even for weight loss. But don’t despair, there is one more choice. In place of fold’em how about taking the path of compromising.  Instead of abandoning the effort altogether, perhaps the best strategy is to revise the goal.

Another real life experience seen is that it often takes several attempts before goals are reached. Is it because we’ve learned from our mistakes or because by our 5th try we’ve re-calibrated our goals to be realistic for us.

The next time you’re tempted to sign up for the promise to “lose 30 pounds in 30 days” consider how you’ll feel when those 30 days are over and you haven’t succeeded or if you do you, you regain that weight back and more. It may be a disappointment to realize that weight loss in not easy and quick  but adopting a realistic approach has an incomparable advantage of tasting the sweet victory of success.