About half of the Dutch population is too fat: 51 percent of men and 42 percent of women. And those who are too fat have to exercise more and eat less - a message that is brought in many ways by nutritionists.
Psychologists naturally want to know why we eat too much. That is because we are bombed by signals that instruct us to eat. And because most people are not able to wonder after every bite if they already have enough. Moreover, the signal of saturation is only received after twenty minutes. Most meals do not last that long.
Every day we make about two hundred decisions about our food. What kind of sandwiches, how many sandwiches, what are we drinking, bragging, or no dessert? Most of those decisions go unconsciously.
It is therefore that most diets are so successful in the first instance. Whether we limit the number of calories, delete carbohydrates or just eat tomato soup, those who are dieting consciously think about every bite. That that works, and that everyone can lose weight, proved an American professor to his students in a personal experiment. Healthy is different, but it worked: on a diet of biscuits and pretzels he became thirteen kilos lighter in two months.
Fallacy
A recent publication shows that 95 percent of all people who lose weight after a diet come back just as much. In addition, the speed at which they lose weight is directly related to the speed with which they gain weight again. Anyone who loses five kilos in a miraculous way in a week will also receive another five kilos in a miraculous way in a week.
So far the bad news. The good news is that lasting weight loss is something that can be learned. It only takes a bit longer than we would wish. This is because becoming lighter is a learning process and not a one-off performance. That is exactly the fallacy of everyone who tries so hard to get rid of some kilos, says psychologist Arjan van Dam, author of The Art of Failure. When losing weight, he argues, it's not about the ultimate goal - the achievement - but about the learning goal.
What is the difference between the two? A performance target can easily be translated into numbers. For example: I want to be four kilos lighter in a month, or lose ten kilos before the summer. If that goal is not achieved, the attempt is basically unsuccessful. There you are on the beach with all those extra pounds. Too fat and a failure.
With a learning objective, you do not initially focus on what you want to achieve, but on what you want to learn to achieve it. And failures are also part of learning. Those who have put themselves on a ration of three dry crackers and an egg-cake learn little about healthy food. Whoever tries to learn to eat healthy, may also make a mistake in the form of a piece of chocolate. Because mistakes, says Van Dam, are part of the learning process. And, more importantly, mistakes also yield something. They encourage you to do your best, or to adjust your strategy.
The conclusion: do not get obsessed with the final goal, but focus your attention on the process of behavioral change. Losing weight is a process of change in your head. Moreover, it is something you can learn. And that is just a matter of trial and error.
Steam course to lose weight: the first steps
1. Remember that losing weight consists of different skills
Losing weight is not a skill in itself. It is something you achieve when you master other skills well, such as self-control, the motivation to exercise enough, and insight into a healthy eating pattern.
2. Focus on the process, not on the result
Compare with the performance of a top athlete. In order to be able to deliver a top performance, an athlete must not concentrate on the price, but on what is needed to win that prize. When you lose weight, it does the same: do not focus on the number of kilos you want to lose, but on how you can learn to permanently change your diet.
3. Set up learning goals for yourself
What do you want to improve? Formulate it as a learning goal. More often say no if someone offers you a pastry, more exercise than just walking up and down to your car, eating fruit and vegetables every day: you can learn it all.
4. Think about different strategies
If you want to learn something, it is useful to try out different strategies. For example, if you can not eat healthier every day, try it every other day, or only on working days. If that does not work either, then move more - keep looking for a way that is most suitable for you.
5. Reward the efforts, not the results
When you are learning something, it is more important that you exert yourself for it than what the outcome is. Results can sometimes be disappointing despite the effort. Reward the effort, not the result. Remember: you are learning!
6. Make it fun
Try to imagine for yourself how you can make the whole process more fun. Find a sport that you like to practice, or go dancing. Make food that you like and that is healthy too. If you like something, you can keep it up for longer.
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