New Year's Resolutions: Weight Loss Is More Than Just Physical

Posted on Jan 5th 2010 3:00PM by Jonny Bowden

Filed Under: Jonny's Take, Diet & Weight Loss

Have you ever heard of Judith Horvath?

Well, neither had I. But I can tell you that I was pretty blown away by what she had to say about the psychological dimensions of losing weight.

Horvath, director of the psychotherapy training program at Texas Tech's Health Sciences Center, believes -- as I do -- that losing weight and keeping it off is as much about psychological struggles as it is physical changes. "Food can be used as emotional nourishment, and to calm anxieties," Horvath told Behavioral Health Central. This is one reason why the holiday season is such a bad time to embark on a weight loss program. "The holidays stir up unfulfilled longings in people. People are reminded of things they are missing out on."

So New Year's resolutions for many people will involve weight loss and gym memberships. So far, so good. But if you don't want that treadmill you bought in January to become a coat rack by February, it's a good idea to address some of the bigger psychological and spiritual issues underlying weight loss -- the stuff I called the "third leg" of the three-legged stool.

Everyone and his personal trainer talks about the first two legs of that three legged stool, diet and exercise. But the one that really stabilizes the whole structure is the one we tend to ignore -- the emotional component. "Some people don't think they can allow themselves to look their best because they feel like they don't deserve to be a more attractive person," said Horvath.

If you're embarking on a diet or fitness makeover in 2010, make sure you are addressing the emotional reasons why you eat, or the emotional barriers that make prone slip off a balanced diet program. If you can truly identify the emotional drivers behind your eating, such as depression or anxiety, you will be much more likely to reach your health goals this year and beyond.

For more information, visit Jonny and learn about his Diet Boot Camp program at Jonny Bowden.

4 Comment

Tags: anxiety, depression, Diet Boot Camp, jonny-bowden, stress, weight loss

DNA Diets: Do They Work? (Part I) (3 days ago - 0 Comments)
Low-Carb Beats Low-Fat for Heart Health (31 days ago - 27 Comments)
Three New Weight Loss Drugs: What's the Scoop? (24 days ago - 4 Comments)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Linda Hibbard 1-06-2010 @ 10:58PM

Try wearing wearable weights like “Body Togs” anatomically designed weighted sleeves worn on your arms & legs under your clothes. Put them on in the morning and you literally forget you have them on while increasing your calorie burn, muscle tone & bone density! Weighted vests work great too!

u262f 1-07-2010 @ 2:42AM

When it's framed as an illness, as depression, as an emotional problem, people seem very likely to say, "I don't have that problem!" It's not just unhappy, emotional, depressed people who are fat or who have eating problems. These days, most people are. Very many perfectly normal people have unhealthy eating habits as well.

Normal people, from doctors to children, have been lied to for many decades. As children, we had our hunger and lack of it suppressed so that we can conform to outdated ideas of politeness and traditions. As adults, we trusted our government, reports of so-called "scientific" studies, and the advice of our doctors, who trusted their journals. Unfortunately, the facts were simplified and condensed to the point that they're lies. Big Food took advantage of the oversimplification and turned them into downright lies. Since they sounded reasonable and we don't have the time to run the experiments ourselves, society and media repeated those lies until everybody believed them. That's why even the average -- and emotionally healthy -- person is also often overweight these days.

We don't need to "fix our emotions". We need free ourselves from those oversimplifications that had turned into lies. We need to look within ourselves for the truths we know so that we can overcome the fiction that other people tell us.

The third leg is one of self-discovery and of separating the truth half from lie half in all these half-truths we grew up on, not necessarily one of fixing anxiety or depression. This self-discovery is useful for improving our health, even if people don't have emotional problems.

anchen84 1-26-2010 @ 4:47PM

I've yet to meet a doctor who would tell me to drink soda and eat chips. I've yet to read a scientific study that would advise the same. Yet so many people, even the ones who say they are poor, would have a houstfull of junk food that they consume every day. No, it's not because they're being lied to. Everyone knows that steamed vegetables and grilled fish are good for you, while alfredo pasta is not. It's a lack of responsibility and unwillingness to change old habits that prompts people to blame everyone but themselves.

ryane 1-14-2010 @ 4:16PM

Thanks i did liked this article...but i knew before that is not good eating when you are stressed or tired.I also try to do some exercises and keep a healthy diet.If it's not working at you see on hcgpregnyl.info or 24drug.com(information about weight loss)