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"I
feel awful."
"It's terrible being heavy." For some,
being overweight is the worst thing imaginable; it can immobilize
you and leave you dumbstruck. That's a reaction more suited to
tragedy. Weight loss is best achieved without that end-of-the-world
outlook.
"It's
intolerable to stick to a diet."
"It's just too hard to diet." This thinking renders you helpless.
People who are easily frustrated want easy solutions. We're seduced
by fad diets because they appeal to that immediacy. Yet people who
rely on fads suffer high failure rates. When you diet with the short
term in mind, you don't learn strategies that require patience and
persistence.
"I am no good."
"Because I am having trouble in this one area I am worthless." Being
overweight can be viewed as a sign of weakness or worthlessness, and
most people aren't motivated when they feel that way. Another form
of worthlessness: "My worth is dependent on my looks." This idea
confuses beauty with thinness, a concept played out endlessly in the
media.
Think Like a Thermostat
By Dennis Brabham,
Melissa Hantman, and William Whitney
Peter Catina is a
professor of exercise physiology at Pennsylvania State University.
"Most elite athletes are
already at the top of their sport, and to reach the next level is a
challenge. But it's difficult to sustain your level when you're at
your pinnacle — novice or expert. Everyone must have both physical
and mental discipline.
"Self-regulation is key;
you can make it simple by being your own monitor. You have to think
like a thermostat — be able to detect a discrepancy between the
environment and your internal standard. It's the difference between
your current state and where your mind and body would like to be.
You can then adjust — raise your standards to meet your expectations
— through strategy and action. Some of us are born with high
self-regulatory skills, but I can identify clients who lack the know
— how and I teach them. Awareness is the first step: noting how many
calories you've consumed, how effective your exercise is, how
frequently and intensely you've exercised.
"Aerobics is no longer the panacea for losing weight. It's the
change in body composition that makes you look better, and for that,
strength training is more effective. Don't constantly weigh
yourself, since muscle weighs more than fat. Instead, measure your
body mass index — or even your waist — and only once every four to
six weeks. I've had many female clients gain five pounds but go down
three dress sizes." |
