Weight Loss and Emotions

January 2015 marked the beginning of an entire renovation of myself. That was when I started my Masters program, got the wheels turning on several certifications, and, of course, when I began to lose weight. If you were to ask me which of those was the most difficult, it was losing weight.

Hands down, it was losing weight. 

I'm not saying the other things were necessarily easy, but there was one major difference between my weight loss and the academic-like things: the emotional connection. Where there were some emotions tied to getting things like my PMP, there was a huge emotional connection to my weight. I gained weight because I feel good when I eat. I wouldn't even say that I was eating to compensate for something else, like occurs within some people.

No, I just plain liked eating.

A lot.
This post originally began as a set of tips for those interested beginning a dieting lifestyle change, and that post is still coming. Some of those tips might seem counter-intuitive to what you've read or seen on TV. This is because of the emotional component there is to weight loss. I didn't begin my weight loss journey under my diet today, and I think those trying to lose weight and jumping to what folks like me do today will inevitably fail.

In their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath deeply explore the fundamentals of being a catalyst for change. At the core of everybody's being, they boil down change initiative into a simple metaphor: a Rider and an Elephant. The Rider is the logical thinker that does their best to steer the Elephant, which represents our untamed, emotional side. (Now that I think about it, it's kind of ironic to think about the Elephant metaphor when it comes to weight!)

Anyway, the Heath brothers rightly contend that as much as the Rider can try to steer the Elephant, the Elephant is almost always going to win out. In other words, we can do our best to logic our behavior, but our emotional side is almost always going to win out in the end. When it comes to weight loss, I just don't think its prudent to try making the Elephant workout every single day and have a super healthy diet. The Elephant needs coaxed by the Rider in slow, manageable steps.

To that end, I think managing your emotions is the best place to start when trying to lose weight. If you try jumping in the deep end of exercise and diet, you will fail. Period. It's why a lot of people that go on shows like The Biggest Loser end up gaining all the weight back. There is a big emotional motivation provided by the show for the timeframe the show is being filmed, but that motivation goes away when the cameras turn off.

If you're considering losing weight, keep in check this emotional principle by finding another powerful motivation that guides your emotions (the Elephant) in following what your logical side (the Rider) desires. One popular new show on TV right now is Revenge Body with Khloe. (No shame in admitting that I love that show!) The show is centered around Khloe Kardashian helping people lose weight by encouraging them to use their anger at somebody as a motivator. I personally don't think revenge is a good motivating fuel, but I like the principle behind it. It embraces this idea that our behaviors are better reinforced by our emotions.

Instead of revenge, channel your emotions into something positive. For me, that looked like a few different things. It meant wearing smaller-sized clothes, having a higher self esteem, and, frankly, I am convinced people respect thinner people more over people with weight issues. Laying down that emotional foundation meant that my Rider was always able to keep my Elephant in check since, generally, they were both in agreement.

When I do write future posts on tips for beginners' dieting and exercise, I hope this particular post provides a good frame of reference why I will suggest those tips. Are they unconventional? Yes. But that's because I think the focus in the beginning should be less on weight loss and more on behavior change. Be looking for those posts in the near future!