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Weight Loss Psychology

Weight Loss Psychology

Summary: What people fail to focus on when they diet is their perception of the process that they are going through. Weight loss is, in essence, about change. To lose weight, one must change his or her entire lifestyle, not just eat less temporarily.

When going on a diet, most people focus – as they should – on what they eat. They become obsessed with counting calories, checking the ingredients of every food they consume. Yet, with all this attention to these details, many people fail to lose the weight and to reach the goals they had in mind, and obesity remains an alarming epidemic.

What people fail to focus on, however, is their perception of the process that they are going through. Weight loss is, in essence, about change. To lose weight, one must change his or her entire lifestyle, not just eat less temporarily.

What must be done, then, is to work on how you perceive and manage your process of change. These are a few helpful strategies you can utilize when making the decision to change:

Positivity
In any situation, your attitude plays a significant role in the chances of failure or success. When you go on a diet expecting that you will fail, or not trusting that it will work because it never has before, you will surely fail. Stay positive and keep in mind that you CAN.

Setting goals
The first step in the weight loss process is to set goals. Here’s a tip: start by setting specific goals. For example, instead of saying “my goal is to lose 5 KGs by the end of the month,” you can get organized and break down that large goal into smaller parts. You can, for example, set a goal to replace chocolate with a fruit for a daily snack.

Evaluation
Evaluation is a crucial step in making any sort of progress, not just when it comes to weight loss. You can set a constant date for self-evaluation, for example every Sunday night, you can review the previous week, if the way you behaved helped you in getting on the path to setting your goal. If it did not, try to figure out why you had difficulties, but more importantly, how you can fix the issue in the future. Remember to stay positive: use constructive criticism and don’t beat yourself up.

Feedback
If you are having trouble keeping tabs on yourself, you can ask for outside help. Have your spouse, close friend, or member of the family to give you feedback. If you know someone else who is trying to lose weight, you can learn from and teach each other by monitoring each other’s efforts.

Author Info

Dr Nagi Safa

Dr Nagi Safa is a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeon (Weight-Loss Surgeon) at the Advanced BMI in Lebanon and at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Montreal, and holds an academic appointment at the University of Montreal. Furthermore, he is involved in the training of residents and surgical fellows on how to perform advanced laparoscopic obesity surgery. In 2010, he launched the Advanced Bariatric and Metabolic Institute (Advanced BMI) in Lebanon, and has been helping hundreds of patients from all over the Middle-East through his expertise in obesity surgery. Education: Dr Safa completed his residency training at the University of Montreal General Surgery Program. He then performed a fellowship in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and Minimal Invasive Surgery (Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery), at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Montreal, which is the largest Weight Loss Surgery center in the Montreal area, and one of the busiest in Canada. Experience: During his training, and throughout his practice, Dr Safa performed more than one thousand laparoscopic procedures, including Roux en Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, gastric banding, gastric plication and many other abdominal surgery procedures. He has a particular interest in LaparoscopicRevisional Surgery including banding, bypass and sleeve. With a keen interest in the advancement of obesity surgery and newer minimally invasive surgical techniques, Dr Safa gained experience in the single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS), and offers Single Incision gastric banding and Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery. Research: His current research interests include clinical outcomes from various bariatric surgery procedures and investigations on the impact of bariatric surgery on Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome X. Memberships: Dr Safa holds professional memberships with the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons, Canadian Association of General Surgeons, Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Association for Surgical Oncology, Quebec Medical Association, Trauma Association of Canada, Association Quebecoise de Chirurgie, International College of Surgeon, and the College des Medecins du Quebec.
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