Why do you always fail to lose weight? It may be due to psychological reasons

Do you often start your weight loss journey with high ambitions but give up halfway? Has anyone ever told you, "You are already very thin, why do you want to lose weight?" At the beginning of the new year, CCTV.com and the Science and Technology Communication Center of the China Association for Science and Technology held a talk on New Year psychology. Wang Kui, an associate researcher at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited by CCTV.com reporters to talk about weight loss.

1. Why is it so difficult for people to maintain long-term weight loss?

Wang Kui: When a person takes extreme weight control behaviors in order to control his or her weight, it often creates a "yo-yo effect" - the base weight increases rapidly in a cycle of gaining and losing weight.

There is a basic assumption in psychology that a person's cognitive resources are limited. When we mobilize more cognitive resources to deal with other events encountered in life, the cognitive resources used to control eating behavior may be reduced, which means that we may lose control of eating. Loss of control often means the beginning of a cycle of eating and drinking.

Once an individual keeps himself in a semi-starved state for a long time, and then suddenly starts to eat and drink a lot, it will open a channel for rapid weight gain. When he finds himself experiencing the consequences of losing control of his eating, he often feels guilty and blames himself, thinking that he has weak self-control. In fact, he has pushed himself into a state of weak self-control, and once again made up his mind to lose weight. He may often take more extreme actions than the previous time, after all, he has tasted the bitter fruit of losing control. In the process of the cycle, an individual's basic weight may gradually increase, which is not only bad for weight control, but also very bad for his physical and mental health.

2. Why are some people keen on losing weight even though they are very thin?

Wang Kui: In our daily life, we may find that many people who need to control their weight are not fat. Many people want to control their weight because they think they look better when they are thinner. My students and I have done a lot of research on this issue among young people. The results of these studies make me believe that people may not not accept themselves because they are not good-looking. On the contrary, it is more likely that people think they are not good-looking because they do not accept themselves, and look for some problems with their appearance.

I think that many people may have to accept such a reality. Maybe the process of life is to slowly accept that you are not a perfect person and accept that you are in a state of gradual learning. When a person gives up the idea that he is perfect and some unrealistic expectations, and realizes that he is always an ordinary person, it may be easier to accept himself.

Those who are keen on weight control often think they are too fat. Our research shows that some women, especially teenagers, want to be thin to a dangerous degree. It is recommended that everyone give up some extreme weight control behaviors. When a person gives up extreme weight control behaviors, he or she is less likely to have the desire to eat and drink too much.

Editor-in-charge: Ding Chaoyi