Weight Loss Tips - Facing Up to Food and Feelings

One of the most dangerous characteristics of being over-weight is holding a distorted view of your own reality. While someone who is anorexic has the distorted view that they are too fat, a compulsive overeater from a family where everyone is overweight might hold the distorted view that their size is healthy and normal; similarly, someone who has bought a pair of jeans a size smaller than is comfortable might go on a crash diet to fit into them when they just needed to 'wise up' and buy a larger size.

If you are always dieting and still feel you need to lose weight, it is time to get to know yourself and your habits, and to learn to understand your thoughts and your body. Other people might already know more about you than you know yourself since their perspective will differ from yours.

Changing Your Perspective

Getting to know yourself through other people's eyes can help you to get to know yourself better. How many times have you talked to a friend about a problem only to find she sees things in a totally different and more positive light than you? And when you've changed to her perspective, don't things start to look a bit better? This approach can apply to understanding more about your body image too. Choosing to listen to our nearest and dearest, and learning that we are holding a distorted view of ourselves can give us a bench-mark to work from.

Think of those you can trust to answer your questions honestly, and get ready to ask them for some feedback. If people are constantly telling you that you really don't need to lose weight, perhaps you're not as big as you think you are.

On the other hand, they might be very worried about your health or how sad you are about your size and desperately want to help you. By asking direct questions you invite their interest and give them permission to offer you support. The best person to ask for a completely honest answer is your doctor.

He or she will answer your questions objectively and with your health in mind rather than whether you fit into your new jeans. How you interpret the information you are given is up to you. You can find a way to feel good or bad about it, or just see it as useful information that will help you move forward.

Avoid A 'No Win' Situation

Consider carefully before asking your partner for their opinion. Can he or she speak openly and honestly with you about this issue without you becoming offended? Can you truly accept their reply? If you believe that your current size or shape makes you unlovable, it might make it impossible for them to give you the 'right' answer without upsetting you.

The definition of a problem is the difference between how you want things to be and how they are now. Fitting into a size 16 isn't a problem if you used to be a size 18, but it might be a problem if you were a size 14 until recently. Even then, it becomes a problem only if you are unhappy about being a size 16 and feel you can do nothing about reducing your weight.

In order to solve any problem, we need to understand our starting point, and how we got to it. I invite you to take a realistic view of what's currently going on in your body and mind so that you can see what needs to change. The reason I stress 'realistic' is that we must not see things as worse than they really are. Although it might feel as if your world is ending because the scales aren't going in the right direction, you need to get things into perspective and to see them as they really are. Facing up to the truth just as it is, and without judgment, can help motivate you to make some sensible changes.

The choice of change

I almost choked when my doctor told me I was clinically obese 10 years ago. Until that point, my biggest concern about my weight had been whether or not I could wear a bikini. It had never occurred to me that my weight was affecting my health. Suddenly, being overweight was life threatening and had become something I had no choice but to change.

Every problem has a root cause. You need to look at the personal triggers and beliefs that might cause you to overeat so that you can identify more clearly what you want to change. The cause usually lies in one of the following:

• Your emotions
• Your habits
• Your associations

And sometimes the cause can involve all three.

How To Lose Weight And Improve Your Health

Read my quick weight loss tips that show you the best way to lose weight without risking your health on crazy low calorie or low carb diets. You can achieve your ideal weight if you know the rules and understand how your body works.