Are you struggling with your weight in general? ​​
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Do you start "dieting" regularly and then give up after a few weeks?
Do you feel stuck between desperately wanting your ideal figure, and ​​reaching for those comfort foods (or drinks) after a long, stressful week?​
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There are many reasons why an individual may struggle with their weight, but often there is some psychological hurdle lurking underneath that until we address, we are destined for the same lack of results and cycle of perpetual unhappiness.
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Our workshop focuses on those psychological hurdles and offers support and guidance on how to successfully overcome them, thus leading to a much more significant chance of reaching those goals, and improving your overall health and mental wellbeing.
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Many people use food as a coping mechanism to deal with feelings of stress, boredom, an underlying mental health issue, or even to prolong feelings of joy - while this may help in the short term, eating to soothe and ease your feelings often leads to regret and guilt, and can even increase negative feelings about yourself and your body. You aren’t actually coping with the problem causing the stress - and it's a vicious cycle to be trapped in! Additionally, your self-image may further suffer as you gain or lose weight, or you may experience other undesired effects on your physical health.
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If you've tried every diet and exercise plan and don't seem to have any success, there may be a psychological block in your way. Maintaining, gaining, or losing weight healthily is an uphill battle for just about everyone, but those dealing with emotional struggles may have more difficulty reaching their goal.
The first step to a healthy resolution is identifying the issue.
Learning more about the psychology of weight loss can help you identify, and overcome your own personal hurdles.
Common Psychological hurdles
The psychology of weight loss works against you in some ways and for you in others. In order to get over your personal hurdle, you'll first need to figure out what it is. Some common psychological hurdles are:
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All-or-nothing thinking (Cognitive thinking traps)​
Negative body image​
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Self-sabotage behaviours
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Everyday stressors​​
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Unresolved trauma
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Anxiety/depression and other mental health conditions
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This is certainly not the full list of hurdles, however, we will cover these, and others, in more detail throughout the workshop.
How does our thinking impact what we eat, and vice versa?
Eating good food promotes overall health and well-being, but what you eat may also impact how you feel. Research suggests that not only can the food you eat affect your mood, but that your mood may influence the foods you choose to consume.
Basically, the nutrients found in healthy foods appear to work together to cause the brain to produce the “feel-good hormone” serotonin, which is associated with improved mood and feelings of relaxation, and eating foods that maintain a steady blood-sugar level within the appropriate range, such as wholegrain cereals, helps to stabilise mood.
But how does your negative mood affect the foods you select?
Results of research on the connection between food selection and poor mood are reasonably consistent − people in a negative frame of mind are more likely to choose sugary, fatty or salty indulgence or comfort – foods rather than nutritious ones.
Indulgence foods may boost energy and improve mood in the short term but these positive effects are usually fleeting. For some people, such effects can often be followed by guilt (because we know those foods aren’t good for us) and a consequent drop in mood. This can trigger more bad eating and set up a vicious cycle.
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How can this workshop help with weight management?
Psychology is the science of behaviour. It’s the study of how and why people do what they do. For people trying to manage their weight, our workshop can help identify negative behaviours in your eating patterns, and offer support and guidance to change those behaviours, as well as helping to modify dysfunctional cognitions (thoughts) and core beliefs about ones self that contribute to weight management problems.
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** If you have been diagnosed, or believe you may be struggling with an eating disorder, please see our other workshop Healthy not Hungry**​​
"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself."
Mark Twain