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Why losing weight doesn't work

Why losing weight doesn t work

Do you want to lose weight but do not succeed, or does the weight that you lose keep on regaining it in no time? You may be overlooking an important factor.

Eating healthier? check. Move more? check. Therein lies the problem. According to American research, 90 percent of people focus on the physical aspects of losing weight. The psychological and emotional part of losing weight, often little or no attention is paid to it. Only 10 percent of Americans see emotions as the biggest stumbling block in losing weight.

Did you know…
A test by psychologist Roger Gould among 17,000 women who failed a diet shows that 100% failed due to emotions.

Food and emotions
Food and smells evoke memories. Do you eat when you're bored or reach for chocolate when you're stressed? Then you are not alone. For many people, food and emotions are closely linked.

Tackling emotional eating

The first step is to become aware that you sometimes eat because of stress, boredom or other emotions. To recognize patterns, you can start keeping a food diary, in which you also record your mood.

Tips against emotional eating
Once you figure out when you eat emotion, you can do several things to deal with it:

  • Make sure you don't get the delicacy you always succumb to.
  • Choose a healthy alternative.
  • Instead of eating something, grab a glass of water. Your body can sometimes confuse hunger and thirst.
  • Distract yourself. Instead of a bag of chips, grab a good book, play a game, take a bath, paint your nails.
  • Eat consciously, always sit down and do not mindlessly work away a meal or snack.
  • Ask yourself these four questions before you start eating.