Over two-thirds of Americans are categorically overweight or obese, and half of them admit to struggling with their weight loss journeys. There are millions of people who try crash diets, supplements, and dangerous weight loss methods year after year, fueling a multi-billion dollar industry that feeds on their insecurities. 

But a lot of people fail to realize that it’s not all about starving yourself or sweating it out for hours at the gym or sipping on celebrity-endorsed skinny teas. Weight loss is as much a mental challenge as physical, if not more. 

Here are some ways why it’s so difficult to lose weight and stick to those goals:

• Setting our expectations too high 

Simply putting too much pressure on ourselves is a major roadblock in and of itself. We look at others’ perceptions of us too, and in doing so, set ourselves up for failure. The fear of disappointing others and failing publicly is sometimes enough to push many people over the edge, leading to them simply not trying at all. 

It’s important to start off on the right foot and to keep expectations realistic. You’re not a failure if you can’t lose 20 lbs. in 2 weeks—that’s unhealthy, unsafe, and unwise to even attempt. Instead, setting realistic goals is a better alternative. 

• Food is often a source of comfort

We can’t help but see food in a cultural and emotional light after years of conditioning. Whether in our families, in media, or with peer groups and society at large, food is always associated with emotions. We turn to desserts and salty, fatty snacks when we’re bored, happy, sad, and angry and use food as an emotional crutch. 

Losing weight is tumultuous and can be emotionally taxing too. It’s almost unavoidable then for people on strict fad diets to fall off the wagon or cave into the pressure of losing weight and turning to food. Sometimes a bad day, or a big win, can also be the triggers to our binges. 

• Not managing stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety are incredibly damaging to your weight loss journey. Till they are managed and resolved, you’ll continue to experience weight gain or plateaus for both psychological and physiological reasons. 

This is because both stress and anxiety trigger certain hormonal responses such as elevated cortisol, imbalanced ghrelin, and leptin, which control hunger, and other side-effects that slow you down, tire you out, and cause you to retain more weight than usual.

You need to work on reducing the stress and anxiety in your life and keeping your mental health in check in order for it to reflect in your physical health.

Losing weight isn’t just about the physical challenges. So much mental energy goes into making these decisions for yourself that it’s almost impossible to separate the two. 

You don’t have to face these challenges alone; work with us for weight loss management in Naples, and we’d be happy to help you. Please get in touch with our hypnotherapy center to know more about our weight loss and mental health treatments. Schedule your session for weight loss therapy, anxiety, or other issues here.