Whether you are someone who is a normal weight but wants to shed a few pounds or someone who is dealing with a serious weight problem chances are most people think that you should be able to shed those pounds with ease. However, losing weight isn’t as easy as most think, it has more to do with our brains and how we think than we realize and that in many ways sets us up to fail.
In this world comfort foods and delicious treats are calling our names all around us. They’re unavoidable, and so we fall into the trap of thinking that eating junk food is okay. Sure, everything is fine in moderation but what happens when our brains tell us that we should eat something even when we probably shouldn’t? This is an issue for many people and most don’t even realize it.
Below I am going to go over some of the ways in which our own minds or brains can and sometimes do set us up to be unable to lose weight or unable to properly maintain a healthy weight. Overindulging is a serious problem in the world today and while no one should be body shamed those who want to change their brains and in the end, shed some weight, as a result, should feel free to do-so. Weight loss in itself isn’t possible if your mind isn’t in the right place and a lot of people need to come to terms with that.
12 Ways Your Mind Keeps You From Staying A Healthy Weight:
1. Eating While Distracted
When we are eating and doing other things at the same time our mind becomes a bit hectic. We are less aware of how full we are becoming and more likely to eat a bit more than we would otherwise. This is why we shouldn’t be eating and watching TV or doing other things of the sort at the same time.
2. Willpower Depletion
This happens when you have too much going on to make decisions like what to eat. Your mind becomes overloaded and you turn to something you already know will be tasty. You are no longer motivated to maintain that diet or weight loss project as a whole.
3. Stress
When we are stressed or upset our mind is going to do all it can to make us feel better which in some cases includes eating a whole tub of ice cream while crying in front of the TV. This can be a big setback but feels great which is quite confusing. As someone who has done this many times, it’s hectic at best.
4. Eating Fast
When we eat quickly we trick our brain into thinking we haven’t eaten as much as we have. We then do not allow time for our food to hit our system properly and then eat more as a result. If you find yourself going back for seconds often maybe try slowing down a bit and counting your chews so that you can give your food time to really set in before deciding if you’re still hungry or not.
5. Being Impulsive
While being impulsive is fun and all it can make things hard when it comes to losing weight. As an impulsive person, you’re going to be more likely to want to eat something that you know tastes good right now versus waiting to benefit your body in the long-run. Self-control is very needed when it comes to impulsive people and working to change their diets.
6. Collapse Of Control
This might not often happen but when it does, it really sets us back. If you happen to eat something you otherwise shouldn’t be eating it can have a snowball effect on you. This leading you into eating more of the things your diet restricts and thus preventing you from losing the weight you might want to lose.
7. Procrastination
When we allow our mind to push things off time and time again especially regarding a diet or food change of some kind we end up going a bit too far in eating the things we know taste good. You allow yourself another cheat day and thus overindulge and from there everything is downhill. Working through a procrastinative mind is not easy but it is important.
8. Food Cues
For those who do not know food cues are basically something that motivates us to eat even when we’re not hungry. For example, you might smell cookies and suddenly find your mouth watering and you want a bite. This in itself is the essence of cravings. If you don’t want to overindulge you might want to avoid food cues.
9. Alcohol Myopia
This one is a bit interesting for a few different reasons. Alcohol myopia is basically what happens when we are intoxicated and unable to resist temptation as easily as we would when not impaired. You’re more likely to indulge in excess when you’re weaker to temptation. You won’t be thinking about your diet when you’re impaired in this manner.
10. Peer Pressure
If you’re surrounded by people who eat certain things you’re going to be more likely to eat those things as well. For instance, if you’re out with friends, and they’re asking you to try something time and time again your mind might eventually tell you to just give in. Your brain is where that decision is made and if you can’t prevent it, you might have a problem on your hands.
11. Your mind is confusing your tiredness for hunger.
Yes, sometimes our minds confuse our need for rest for being hungry. This leads us to eat something while not needing it. If you’re not getting enough sleep and because of this overeating, you might want to consider taking a nap at specific times each day.
12. Boredom Eating
When we are bored our mind looks for things to do. If we don’t have any hobbies or other things to occupy our time with, we tend to turn to food. This is something that only finding your passions can help you overcome.