The psychology of dieting

There are many aspects of dieting that lead us to believe that if we starve ourselves we will get the body we always wanted. Unfortunately It has been found that although most people diet so that they can get more out of life, this act of deprivation only serves to make life less enjoyable. This in many cases leads most diets to fail, or leads people to what is known as 'yo-yo dieting' where they continually start and stop diets due to cravings and temptation.

The psychology of the diet needs to be understood before steps can be taken to ensure its success.

The body is designed to store as much food as possible. This is a throwback to days before reliable agriculture and husbandry where human beings weren't always assured a meal each day, so the body became very efficient at storing food for the bad days as fat. This means that simply eating less wont yield results as your body quickly adjusts to its new intake and will continue to store food.

Looking for instant results is another pitfall. This is because we live in a society where everything needs to happen now. Biological processes however are not so punctual. A process like weight loss takes time for your body to change, rapid weight loss can result in damage to kidneys and the liver so if one wishes to lose weight then they need to understand this needs to be a long term commitment, after all, you wish to keep your new figure for the rest of your life, that means that your plan needs to be incorporated into the rest of your life.

Finally most people enter a diet with an 'all or nothing' attitude. This is commendable as it takes courage to make such a change, but this is also a pitfall. An all or nothing approach makes no room for the occasional indulgence. As a result when an opportunity does come along to enjoy a dessert or snack, either one does not eat it and therefore denying themselves the enjoyment, or they devour it, then feel pangs of regret as they see it as some kind of failure. This can be no further from the truth. One of the things that needs to be realised is that even people who lead healthy active lives splurge occasionally, it is the spice of life and in no way reflects failure. Only when the occasional snack or dessert becomes a norm that it becomes a problem.

Hopefully these insights will help you when considering the psychology of dieting! enjoy!