I want to lose weight: where to start?

I want to lose weight... What woman does not say this phrase, some with hope, some with despair, and some with confidence that everything will work out. In fact, the inexorable statistics say that motivation determines if not all, then certainly more than half of success.

In addition to deciding why you want to lose weight, you also need to figure out the reason why you are gaining and maintaining weight. Once these two tasks are solved and specified, the strategy for losing weight to a physiologically normal level is built with optimal precision.

So, the first two tasks, related to the field of psychology and creating the conditions for the fulfillment of the cherished desire - “I want to lose weight” are formulated as follows:

1. Determine why you personally need to lose weight. This should not concern comparisons with an asthenic friend or an anorexic model. What will losing weight give you personally - increased self-esteem, improved well-being, attracting attention from the opposite sex, career growth, and so on. It is advisable to describe yourself in your ideal weight as detailed and specific as possible.
2. Find the reason why food addiction developed. This task is not only psychological, but also possibly medical. Among the psychological reasons for food addiction may be the following:
   • Dissatisfaction with one's life in general, a feeling of constant vital discomfort, an inner emptiness that is filled with food. This problem, which psychotherapists call "hungry mind", requires the help of a specialist, detailed analysis and working through psychological traumas.
   • Dissatisfaction with personal life, which is called a "hungry heart", that is, the inability to give free rein to emotions and feelings. Their suppression leads to food compensation, which replaces joy with food satisfaction. A task that can be solved with the help of a psychologist. It is necessary to find out which emotions, including negative ones, are "eaten away".
   • Unfulfilled professionalism also often leads to "eating away" career failures. It requires self-analysis, sometimes tough, honest, dramatic, but necessary for further development.
   • Chronic stress situations that are compensated by food "pleasures". A task that requires self-analysis, possibly the help of a specialist, and building a plan to get out of stress.
   • Suppressed childhood fears and anxieties can be projected into adulthood as food “defense.” They require processing and elimination.
   • Metabolic disorders due to somatic diseases, including hormonal dysfunctions. A task that requires careful, comprehensive diagnostics and therapeutic measures.

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