Losing The Weight Regain: Little Things Make Big Things Happen
June 16, 2020Losing The Weight Regain
When it comes to planning it is important to re-identify your goals as well as, to recalculate your direction and to think about whether if you are on the path to where you want to be, especially when it comes to losing the weight regain. When thinking about change, it’s helpful to start to think about some “what” questions.
Being proactive even when it feels reactive, can help you make small changes, leading to bigger changes and bouncing back faster when you may have stubbed your toe on life’s stressors (i.e losing the weight regain).
"What" Questions for Losing The Weight Regain
- What’s going on personally, emotionally, situationally, or professionally?
- What can I do differently?
- What resources or modifications do I need?
- What little things can you do today to make sure your health goals are met tomorrow?
- Think about your thoughts.
- What’s your plan B?
- Let's build confidence from the inside.
- Prepare, prepare.
- Manage your mind.
- Commit to your health.
Think About Your Thoughts
Think about the “what” questions as it pertains to your health, your weight loss and regain. Ask yourself what has been going on in my life or in my environment and how these external factors have impacted your actions?
Now ask yourself "how did I react and did it help or hinder the result?" These questions will give you a tremendous amount of insight when we are trying to take a peek inside of our everyday life, understand what variables need to be modified to change the outcome and to start to battle the weight regain.
Sometimes external factors can be adjusted, but often it is our reaction or lack of action that needs to be adjusted. This is where the little modifications make big outcomes feel terrific.
Breaking Down the "What" Questions
Let’s break down the “what” questions?
- What is the reason for the regain?
- What is the change in my lifestyle or environment?
These answers will complement and lead to the “how to” approach, as in how we prepare. Let’s start with making that first appointment with a practitioner, understand your medical needs, lifestyle needs, assess what exercise resources are needed to begin or restart an exercise program, organize your tasks (school/work) with a schedule for your lifestyle program that will help you get started.
When you spell out the “what’s and how’s”, it will be so much easier to track your health goals and stay confident. It’s the road map that our brain needs to reach the destination.
Plan B
You’ve planned to exercise three times a week and you're sticking with your program really well. Best of all, you've scheduled your exercise sessions like appointments in your calendar. You're doing great, you feel confident.
But all of a sudden, a work project is brought to your attention and you realize you’ll need to work every night this week. Sound familiar? There will always be unexpected hurdles that can impact even the best proactive plans. So lets take the time to think ahead about all the possible scenarios that might get in the way of your goals—and plan how to tackle them in advance.
Having a Plan B becomes your safety net when we think about the little challenges and changes. Having a Plan B in place before you need it means you're thinking proactively, strategically, and will be more likely to remain confident and increase your ability to catch the curveball (reduce regain).
Building Confidence
When planning to lose the weight regain, you may feel a bit reactive, so let's modify and organize those thoughts. Let's embrace and adjust to confident thoughts to enable a positive and realistic view of ourselves, our goals, our unexpected curveballs, and our intended outcomes.
Having an accurate sense of self-confidence means to avoid behaving overconfident or careless. People with high self-confidence typically are able to stand up for what they believe in. People who lack confidence no longer have trust in their thoughts have doubts in their ability, performance and ultimately to achieve goals.
Have you ever said to yourself “How will I do this, if I never was able to?” “I just can't do this, why try?” “Of course I will be at risk to gain, I always do.” “This always happens to me!”
How To Build a Sense of Stable Self-Confidence
The good news is that becoming more confident is attainable. As long as you are ready, and no longer contemplating change, you are truly ready. Best of all when you build confidence from the inside, through readiness, you become unstoppable in seeing and reaching your health goals.
The outside (our weight, body image) will run right alongside you (your inside), you will no longer have to work outside-in. Losing the weight regain is making the change to go inside-out.
How Does This Apply to Eating and Losing Weight that was Regained?
The first step involves getting your mindset ready, truly ready on the inside. You need to be aware of where you are, think about where you want to go and commit yourself to get to your destination. Make sure you're mentally and emotionally ready to tackle weight regain.
Prepare, Prepare
Look at What You've Already Achieved
Think about your current life and list the ten best things you've achieved. Compile this into an achievement list, which you can look at often. And then spend a few minutes daily looking at and enjoying the success you’ve already ensured!
Think About Your Strengths
Take a look at who and where you are. Looking at your achievement list, and reflecting on your recent days, weeks, months and years. Think about what your family and peers would consider to be your strengths and weaknesses (you will want to know both, this is an opportunity to learn and build confidence). Of course, enjoy a few minutes reflecting on your strengths!
Think About Where You Want to Go (setting goals)
Think about the things that are really important to you, and what you want to achieve with your health and your weight. This is setting goals and real confidence comes from making this commitment. Set goals that will maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and give you opportunities to learn.
Build the Knowledge You Need to Feel Confident
Looking at your goals, identify the skills you’ll need, identify the knowledge you need to “feel confident” with the behaviors and nutrition choices. Don’t just accept a just-good-enough solution, look for a solution, a choice that fully equips you to achieve confidence that you can be proud of.
Managing Your Mind
Learn to defeat the negative self-talk (confidence destruction) and balance it with positive thoughts (confidence building). Remain consistent with positive thinking; keep celebrating and enjoying success and keep those mental images strong.
Accept that curve balls happen when you’re making lifestyle changes. In fact, if you get into the habit of treating mistakes as learning experiences, you can start to see them in a positive light.
Commit to YOU!
Make a promise to yourself that you are unquestionably ready and committed, and that you will do all in your power to achieve your health and wellness goals. This defines true readiness.
If you feel doubts at any time, write them down and challenge the negative rationally, and manage your mind to a positive thought, then you are ready.
Are you ready to lose the weight regain? How do we do that?
Scenario of how a “typical” night out might look or sound….
I am planning on meeting friends for dinner and my automatic thoughts are “I am going out, so I am allowed to have XYZ, I’ll be bad tonight, I deserve it!”
So what is the night outcome? Guilt, shame, frustration, hopelessness, etc..
Little Changes Make Big Things Happen…Lets Redo..
I am planning on meeting friends for dinner and my automatic thoughts are” I’m going to restaurant XY, let me check out the menu to see what they have. Great, I’ll have XYZ and that will be a great choice! I feel good about my choice. I feel confident and subsequently do not feel guilty” So what’s the outcome? Confidence, pride, and feelings of self worth and accomplishment.
Now take an example in your environment and see how you can assure that your outcome involves confidence based eating, to assure you will consistently feel good and lose the weight regain.
Enjoy your journey, enjoy the experiences, learn from each of them, celebrate, build confidence, and never throw away a day for a moment!
 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Willo Wisotsky is a NY State Licensed Psychologist and is affiliated with New York Bariatric Group. Dr. Wisotsky has committed her research and clinical practice to the field of eating disorders and obesity with its related medical and mental health comorbidities. Dr. Wisotsky practices from a Behavioral Medicine approach with an emphasis on improving overall well being, increasing mindfulness, motivation, quality of life and health.Read more articles from Dr. Wisotsky! |
