Motivation for weight loss: psychological books, techniques, trainings. Tips and recommendations from experts

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

In working on oneself, 70% of success depends on the correct motivation of a person for future changes. It is the intention to lose weight (and not just a desire) that dictates to the human body a new pace and principle of metabolic processes, due to which the need for food decreases in a person who is losing weight and the overall vitality increases. A good helper in the correct recognition of body signals and the ability to "negotiate" with it are psychological books for weight loss and famous author's methods of NLP specialists.

Motivation is the goal

No one loses weight for the sake of numbers on the scale, although it is this moment of debriefing that causes the strongest emotions. For all people, by the moment when the decision is made to lose weight, a certain goal is formed, in the name of which the readiness to endure hardships and change the whole habitual way of life grows stronger. Depending on the strength of the desire to get to the desired result faster and better, the power of motivation is formed, which, asa wave that is gaining strength should carry a person to his goal.

It must be said right away that false motives, imposed from the screen or copied from girlfriends, do not affect the subconscious desires of a person in any way and are not able to influence internal processes. The motive cannot be artificially "ignited" - it must arise as an insight and encourage immediate action to start here and now. Motivation is what makes you instantly jump up in the morning, withstand all restrictions and inconveniences with pleasure, with pride.

If the psychological motivation for losing weight is strong enough and dictated by true goals, it leaves no room for doubt or fear that nothing will work out. In some cases, fear arises not because of self-doubt, but because of the widely publicized opinion of individual experts that all independent attempts to lose weight, without the help of a qualified psychologist, are doomed to failure in advance.

However, it should be repeated that with sufficient motivation, a person can achieve absolutely incredible results, even without any separate monetary investment in the process.

Support motivation

Motivation, no matter how powerful it is, is an unstable state and highly dependent on external and internal factors, and this despite the fact that the desire to lose weight in an overweight person may not weaken for a minute. I want to lose 10 kg, but you can start after a serving of ice cream (pasta, etc.), you need to get rid of shortness of breath, but a morning runpostpone until tomorrow. All this suggests that motivation must be constantly warmed up, not let it fade away.

Every single psychological technique for losing weight is based on enthusiasm. Even the most ingenious approach to a problem will turn out to be "dummy" if it is not heeded with greed, standing with both feet on the starting line, ready to take off and run in the indicated direction. Here are a few tricks that work flawlessly to keep you motivated:

1. Compilation of reminder notes with short motivational texts that are left in all sorts of nooks and crannies in the house.
2. Printing photos and pictures from the Internet showing slim girls or beautiful clothes for "slender girls". It is advisable to place illustrations in such a way as to immediately block forbidden temptations - for example, on the refrigerator door.
3. Learn and repeat to yourself as often as possible, 3-4 strong affirmations for weight loss.
4. Keep your "Achievement Diary", where you write down all meals, your main thoughts and observations, as well as emerging difficulties regarding the process of losing weight.

It is important to remember that at first, the body will definitely resist any qualitative changes in life. It will begin to seem to a person that he is doing everything wrong, that all this is meaningless, etc. This phenomenon, described by Academician Pavlov, passes as new habits are developed and does not require separate reflection. Best of all, learn to completely ignore the sensation.primary discomfort.

Common weight loss mistakes

Psychologists often hear from patients that they have tried a lot of techniques, exhausted themselves with all the popular diets, but the excess weight not only did not want to go away, but also enriched itself with a few more kilograms. And, at the same time, in the practice of every specialist there are such patients who have achieved their goal and lost 20, 30, 50 kg, introducing only 3-4 easy restrictions into life and following a set of universal rules. Why such a difference in results?

The fact is that all people who unsuccessfully attempt to get rid of excess weight have something in common. They do not strive to become slimmer, do not dream of feeling lighter and more active - they are struggling with their unsatisfactory "I", arouse hatred in themselves for the reflection in the mirror, refuse to accept themselves today. These people focus their energy not on improvement, but on suppression.

Patients who choose this weight loss tactic engage in the most rigorous forms of dieting and the most aggressive forms of exercise. What happens next? The longer exhausting workouts or fasting continue, the more internal protest rises against them. And now, when a positive result is just beginning to be seen in the future, a person is already so tired and embittered that he is ready to give up his goal. A breakdown follows, and after a short pause, another unsuccessful attempt.

It is important to remember that the psychological aspects of losing weight are neverimply a struggle against oneself. If a person has not learned to feel gratitude for himself for how smart, good, patient he is, how great he is doing to improve himself now (and not become perfect in some future), he will not be one step closer to the goal.

Motivation for results

So what is the secret to losing weight, if not in the rejection of a huge number of familiar things and psychological attitudes? That's right, in its acceptance of these things and attitudes, as everything that has the right to its place in life, but in certain volumes. How does it work?

Even the most principled loser, at least occasionally allows himself some pleasure from his forbidden list - skip training, eat a cake. But one person will do all this with apparent pleasure, enjoying every forbidden bite and every shirked minute, and the other will do the same, reproaching himself for cowardice and giving himself vows for the future. As a result, both individuals will lose weight, but one - as a result of rewarding himself after the pleasure received with an extra 30 minutes of walking, and the other - due to the tightening of future restrictions and moral self-discipline.

Achievement motivation must take into account a person's need for various types of pleasure, otherwise it turns into a violent tactic of escaping reality in favor of some mythical result that should reward all the hardships at once.

You should not learn to be glad that yesterday there were 100 kg on the scales, and today it has become 99, because tomorrow, due to someor circumstances, there may be the number 101, and then stress and loss of incentive are inevitable. It is much more useful to note in a diary every evening how many harmful temptations were answered “no” during the day and how great it is that you have taken another step towards shaping your dream figure. And if you manage to keep yourself within the established rules, you can weigh yourself less often - for example, once a week.

Best Weight Loss Motivational Books

Among the psychological books for weight loss, there are many bestsellers that have turned the worldview and changed the attitude of hundreds of thousands of people. Experts recommend that in order to choose a methodology “on your own”, get acquainted with at least two systems that offer a different approach to moving towards your goal. The best psychological books for weight loss, according to readers, are the following three:

1. "The Easy Way to Lose Weight" by English writer Allen Carr. The publicist dedicates the reader to the secret of losing weight without food restrictions, talks about how to realize your ideal weight and not “slide” into anorexia. The book is written in a light, conversational style and is easy to understand.
2. "I can't lose weight" by French nutritionist Pierre Dukan. The reader is offered a unique four-step technique that adjusts the body to a sustainable result. And since the author is also a doctor with vast therapeutic experience, on the pages of this psychological book for weight loss you can find many interesting medical facts about losing weight.
3. "3000 ways not to interfere with harmony, or we will make a figure out of a carcass" from the Russian journalist-psychologist Zoya Chernakova (Lissy Moussa). According to our compatriot, the process of losing weight can be not only useful, but also very pleasant - you just need to stop being critical of yourself. The author offers the reader a unique psychological technique for losing weight, presented in the form of funny illustrations and easily accessible text.

As a general introduction and for the sake of being able to look at your problem from different angles, you can find other works from well-known authors of our time, but psychologists do not recommend getting carried away with specialized literature. Do not forget that every psychological book for weight loss is just another version of the same process, which is better not to put it off into the distant future.

NLP Slimming Technique

The Neuro Linguistic Programming technique is used to rebuild a person's consciousness in the right direction, when it is necessary to increase control over certain aspects of one's own life or get rid of bad habits. The NLP system is not an independent means of working on oneself and always goes as part of a general set of measures taken to improve the figure.

According to reader reviews, in psychological books for weight loss, describing the NLP methodology, there is a special emphasis on the need to have a strong motivation for drastic changes, otherwise,the system will be useless. This can be called the only drawback of the technique, and the most important condition for the possibility of its use.

The article provides a step-by-step psychological training for weight loss at home, which is convenient to combine with any chosen body shaping system.

Relaxation and personality assessment

The body always reacts to stress with two manifestations - either it begins to rapidly “dump” excess energy and the person quickly “dries out”, or, on the contrary, tries to accumulate it “in reserve” in the form of abundant fat deposits. In addition, many women have a habit of eating their feelings, so getting rid of stress by completely relaxing is the first step towards a beautiful figure.

How to reduce stress levels:

• you need to sit comfortably with a straight back, hands relaxed on your knees with the back side up;
• closing your eyes, you need to visualize in front of you a sparkling light, a golden sphere of calm and tranquility;
• next, you need to imagine how this sphere gently flows around the whole body, overshadowing it with its warmth and grace;
• after delaying a pleasant sensation for a few minutes, you should take 3 deep breaths and exit the state of meditation.

The next step in psychological weight loss for women will be an analysis of their personality according to the principle: "I am what fills me." Perhaps the reason for fullness is hidden in the feeling of being protected from someone else's attention, in internal complexes or fear of relationships. If similarfactors are identified, then professional psychological help will be required to block them. When losing weight, it is best to contact special body shaping centers for advice.

Goal Statement

For the next stage, you need to connect your imagination and imagine the "ideal I", taking into account, of course, the existing unchanged parameters (eye section, bone width, etc.). You need to do this several times a day.

You can even create your image "after" in a special computer program, print the picture and hang it in the most prominent place, as the most important psychological motivation for losing weight. For girls, a system of “small real steps” in the form of regular visits to beauty salons and fashion shows will be a good support for this motivation. This helps to subconsciously prepare for future changes and tune in to a good result.

Furthermore, the goal must be clearly articulated so that it can be repeated often as a personal mantra. The word form used must be in the affirmative form, expressing a direct intention (“I am changing”), not a dream or desire (“I want to change”).

Cleansing and changing attitudes to food

If you try to visualize your digestive system in the form of associative images, then most people will most likely imagine a dump of all sorts of unnecessary things in an aura of stench. When creating a psychological setting for weight loss, first of all, you need to get rid of the feelingdirt inside oneself and it is necessary to do this until the inner purity begins to be felt at the physical level.

How to do it:

• closing your eyes and relaxing, you should imagine yourself from the inside in all the ugliness of the current state of the body;
• using visualization, you need to "plant" in your body a certain image of a cleaner (robot, janitor, hostess), who will immediately begin to restore order there;
• it is enough to allocate 10-15 times a day for visualization, each time during the exercise assessing the positive changes in the body.

When the result becomes obvious and this manifests itself in the form of a general improvement in well-being, a stomach cleansed to a shine will need to learn how to fill it with high-quality and “non-staining” food. At this stage, a person already knows how to appreciate the importance of the steps taken and will think several times before starting to slagging his body again with complex, indigestible elements.

Final stage: transformation

The readiness to approach the final step to change yourself to a better, ideal state is determined by a feeling of inner freedom from complexes, addictions to unhe althy food (or overeating) and self-criticism. Yes, the weight is not yet what we would like, but every day the body gets used to the new rules, and it simply has no other option but to dictate changes for the better. Yes, some goodies or old habits will have to be forgotten forever, but if you compare this with a general increase in the quality of life, thenlosses are negligible.

The final step is to take total control of your emotions. From now on, any thoughts about yourself, made in a negative way, are banned. This does not mean that unhe althy skepticism should be replaced by self-deception and praise of one's obviously imperfect forms, but one can criticize oneself in different ways. Instead of: "I'm fat, all efforts are in vain," use an optimistic formula: "Yes, not a supermodel yet, but no longer a cow." The difference in judgment is obvious and the body will surely thank the hostess for appreciating her efforts.