- Denial. When you gain weight it happens over time.
When I was gaining weight I was in denial about it. I’d wear stretchy clothes, avoid the scale, avoid photographs, etc… all in an effort to deny the problem.
The first stage of losing weight for good is coming out of “fat” denial. - The Decision. Once you realise there is a problem, whether it be 3 kg or 50 kg, there is a period of time that you will go through where you are deciding to do something. During this phase according to Keller people were coming to terms with their weight and will start researching different weight loss methods and will be getting ready to change.
- Action. This is the weight reduction phase. After choosing a weight loss method you can start to reduce weight and attain your goals.
” An analysis of five weight loss studies reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 showed that the “…weight loss reported in the five studies indicates that hypnosis can more than double the effects” of traditional weight loss approaches.” ~University of Connecticut, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 (Vol. 64, No. 3, pgs 517-519) - The Plateau. Although some people never experience a time where weight loss either slows, or stops, most people do go through this phase. This can also be a resting phase to regroup ans start from a new level to attain even greater goals.
- Getting to Goal. Though it seems like reaching your goal weight would be the end, it isn’t. At this point it becomes important to dig deep and look at what is beyond the goal.
- Learning to Stay There.
“All the behaviors that got me to my goal need to continue or my weight starts to creep up.” - This is a Life Long Journey. The reason many people regain weight is that they don’t expect it to be so much work to keep it off long term. Weight maintenance is the same as the action phase of weight reduction, it’s just smaller amounts of weight.
Knowing this can be helpful to understand that you can reduce weight and keep it off.
It’s a process.
