7 Mistaken Beliefs That Prevent Weight Loss

Reader Comments
Back to blog

I believe we would be surprised what we could do in weight
management if we would challenge our thinking in these seven ways.
I'm going to make it a goal.

Gloria Johnson of AZ 12:55AM January 20, 2012

Ciao!
Yes, that is true!
Cognitive therapy, folks, is what we need more than diet advice. This is what Yoga is about. Yoga is much older than modern cognitive therapy. In fact, doing Yoga you might never feel you are on some kind of a "diet" (however, in fact, you are).
Buona fortuna!

Giovanna 1:33AM March 01, 2011

A lot of good advice here, but some of it may need to be modified for people with diabetes.

TomC of MD 10:14PM September 18, 2009

Too many people are afraid of not eating. Remember the body can go 3 weeks without food. The human body understands how to handle starvation. What is does not understand, is how to handle obesity. MANY, MANY cultures incorporate forms of fasting in their rituals.
People today act as if going hungry will kill you. No, obesity will kill you. I DO NOT RECOMMEND being underweight. Get to your healthy weight range and stay there, but going without food can be BETTER THAN EATING, if it helps you get there. And drink lots of water....not soda..not coffee....not tea....not diet soda....not vitamin water.....not vitamin water 10.....real water.
Starvation alone works.....starvation (~500 to 1200 calories per day) and exercise works better and is much healthier for you. Something that helps me keep energy is the two serving cans of pineapple (in pineapple juice) that walmart sells. It has 22 grams of sugar, but only 120 calories in the can. The small one serving (YES ONE SERVING, check the back) microwavable Chef Boyardee or Dinty Moore makes for a good lunch. (NOTHING ELSE...no chips, soda, etc). Soup is good too, but tends to have a lot of sodium.
I go to the gym every day. I have lost about 10 lbs in the last month, and am looking to lose another 20 to get to my goal weight. I feel awesome after working out.
Remember, if your body is using it's stored fat, by definition it is not getting enough calories to replace what it is burning. Being hungry is part of that process.

Sarah of CT 1:47PM September 18, 2009

It is extremely important that people follow a HEALTHY diet and workout plan, rather than drastically cutting calories or using food as a means to uplift their spirits when they are feeling down. I always have my clients WRITE DOWN what they eat, when they eat it and what they did as far as exercise each day. This way they make themselves accountable and are more likely to stick to a plan. Healthy living takes planning... Just lie anything in life, we need to work hard at keeping healthy in order to exercise. Keep reminders of what you want to achieve around your house, get a training buddy, keep a food journal...There are several things that can be done to maximize chances of success.
Best of luck!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Harry Johnson Jr is the 1998 Body For Life Champion - You can learn more about losing weight and getting into great shape at his blog, www.harryjohnsonjr.com

Harry Johnson Jr. of FL 10:36PM July 29, 2009

i find much of this simplistic and unrelated to working on the front line of overweight persons....if one works in high pressure job - worry seriosly /possibly panic if you cannot find time to eat on time and frequently ...staying alert and energized- many careers and lower wage jobs have no relaxed time/regular/dependable meal times
Giving in to cravings can be a serious disaster for weight management-causing binges and loss of any success -trigger foods often have addiction lke effects on obese persons.All of this article is fine for those genetically and behaviourly already in good shape and control ofeating habits

moo of CT 6:25AM July 22, 2009

Weight Watchers' program teaches members who reach their desired and healthy weight how to maintain that weight. Once the goal is reached, the member at goal spends 6 more weeks adding food to her diet. She weighs in each week for six weeks, and can see how well she is managing to maintain the weight. After the six weeks, she (or he) weighs in once a month to keep track of how well the member is keeping the weight off.

Betsy Phillips of MO 9:38AM February 20, 2009

An even more efficient weight loss program you should check out is Vtrim ( http://www.vtrim.org ). The Vtrim-online approach to weight loss focuses more on the behavioral component of dieting, as well the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Vtrim is very unique in which the participants are encouraged to set behavioral goals, rather than set individual weight goals, to achieve more permanent weight loss.

NBM763 of VT 9:51AM January 28, 2009

Takign a different look
1. Does anyone in America( or elsewhere in the world) really know, so they can independently measure, what's healthy for thier body at their age? Most adult Americans don't have the knowledge, incentive, or methods to measure and judge health beyond contradictory, 'bullet-point' advise produced by narrowly proven theoretical 'truths" that are the currency in the media industry. Sound bites/bullet points are a by-product of heavily pre-processed thinking; just like weight problems are partially the fault of heavily pre-processed foods.
2 As possible measures of health, most folks use the pain-free, normal seeming, mobility measure. Some will go a bit further with "I'm okay emotionally and socially - I have friends and a measure of success" and others will go even further with "I am at peace with the universe". Are any of these really accurate measures of health? Consider - these are the measures generally force-fed during elementary schooling and cognitively, everything you really use to be functionally able, you learned by the end of 6th Grade.
3. Cognitive theory says - what you believe is true & IS your functional, working truth. If, however all you have is media-available "experts" (and expert has no whole-world standard of measure) guiding you, then how can you personally judge, let alone be personally responsible for 'the truth'? Additionally, just because someone is published and thereby an author-ity, don't conclude the writer knows anything for certain other than their own truth. They write to sell you their understanding of truth - including psychologists, medical doctors, Ph.D's and Nobel Prize (and other honorific) winners. Just because people agree with someone, it doesn't mean what they speak is "the verified, validated and reliable in all circumstances" truth.
4. Finally, if you look to the US government to provide truth and guidance - because you don't want the responsibility to think and act - then we should all ask for legislation that requires all food buyers to have a license. Before buying any pre-processed food (e.g. ready-meals, bottled beverages, bagged items, boxed items), the purchaser would show a license, granted on their demonstrated knowledge of their own state of health as well as ability to determine nutritional quality. Sounds far-fecthed but consider labeling for "light foods", FDA & OSHA enforcement of the temperature of served coffee, and government mandates that school lunches no longer feature fried, starchy, or sugar-rich foods.Governments have taken less well-founded action than licensing personal food purchases.

mary russo 8:49PM January 27, 2009

I have lost 30 lbs. over the past 16 months using techniques from Dr. Beck's first book. (Incidentally, you might look up her father, Dr. Aaron Beck -- he literally wrote the book, or at least one of the best-known books, on cognitive therapy for managing mood disorders.)
If you think that's not very fast, well hey, there are people who in the same amount of time have lost 30 lbs and then gained it back!
Dr. Beck doesn't recommend starving yourself. Her point is that realistically, especially if you work outside the home, you sometimes are going to feel hungry, and this isn't reason to panic, or to go off your plan and grab something crappy from a vending machine. Until I did some of the exercises she recommends, I literally got panicky when I was hungry and thought I had to drop everything to deal with it, or else I'd go nuts. This was an overreaction of course, but many heavy people do have these mistaken thoughts, and it's great to be free of them.
I'm not suggesting that one magic method should work for everyone, but it seems some of the posters here don't realize that cognitive therapy is a proven medical standard of care in psychiatry -- it's not some crackpot notion. Dr. Beck is just applying it to weight loss.
peace out

selenesmom of OR 10:53AM January 27, 2009