4 Reasons It’s Hard to Lose Weight

Why is it so hard to lose weight?  Here’s a multi-billion dollar industry here and we still have a huge obesity problem in our country and it’s growing around the world as well. Why is losing weight so difficult

Not Optional To Give It Up

 Well, first of all, food is not something you could just get rid of. You could say, I’m going to stop smoking. I’m going to stop gambling, I’m going to stop drinking, but you can’t say I’m going to stop eating. That just doesn’t work. So we’re forced to develop some level of control and balance in eating, so that we don’t overdo it, we don’t underdo it. And eating is connected to all kinds of emotional issues and traumas that happened earlier in life.

Eating Reflects Early Family Patterns

People develop patterns that they pick up from their family. For example, if food was offered as a source of comfort as a child, this pattern can easily continue into adulthood. Perhaps, when you were little, your mother offered you  cookies when you were distressed. She told you that they would make you feel better. Now you sit and eat a package of cookies when stressed, without seeing the connection.

So just ‘all of a sudden’ trying to lose weight is not the answer. You have to regroup, and go back to what happened, what caused this pattern? How do I change it? What do I substitute? How do I establish control without using food?

Plus, we live in a society with there’s great affluence and abundance, and many people are in a position where they could eat whatever they want at any time. This factor combined with past history creates a real challenge.

Emotional Eating Continues From Earlier Years

When people look at when/why they eat, it becomes obvious that they eat for many reasons besides physical hunger. When they start to take a deeper dive and see how they turned to food for comfort, for security, for safety, as a reward, to reduce stress, when bored, lonely, or upset then it gets complicated. They have to unravel that whole big ball of knots.

Eating To Be Part of A Group

Often people do fine with eating when left on their own. But when it comes to family gatherings, get-togethers with friends, meeting people for a meal, vacationing with others then it all falls apart.

There’s an innate desire in us to be part of a group. One way we express this is by eating what those around us are eating. Sometimes a person meets with disapproval when they no longer want those foods. Others are offended, so they eat what’s there to keep the peace.

Or, there just aren’t good options to choose from. If your family or friends eat a lot of meat and potatoes, bread, desserts, and also drink alcohol they you are stuck in a desert with no good options.

How Can I Get Started? 

The first step is to examine your own pattern. Then you can plan what to do. Examine what times of day are the most problematic for you, what foods are the most problematic, what triggers undesirable eating, and what emotions and thoughts are running through your head when you turn to food.

If you are an emotional eater, it’s important to remove the emotional blockers that keep you from succeeding.

These blockers can be hidden and require some digging to uncover. For example, you really want to lose weight and start to succeed. Then at a certain weight you start to gain it back, or just stay stuck at that weight. The hidden reason might be that: you are afraid to be slim and sexy because of memories of childhood sexual abuse OR you fear drawing attention to yourself because your parents brought you up to be seen and not heard and you still follow this rule. Whatever the reason, effective and permanent weight loss depends on uncovering the blockers and releasing them. Otherwise, they will continue to run the program.

There are many valuable methods to release these blockers, including EFT tapping, hypnosis, neurolinguistic programming (NLP), breathing and relaxation methods, and journaling.

Once the reasons for emotional eating are removed and your relationship to past events has been changed, then you will naturally start to crave healthy foods – the foods that your body really wants.

Step two is to plan ahead. If you will be staying with family, you might be able to bring or buy some of your own food. If you are going out for a meal, check the menu in advance and plan your strategy. Perhaps it would be comfortable to discuss your ‘special diet’ with others and your need to improve your health and lose weight. Then ask for their support. This may or may not work. It can be a sensitive issue for some.

Learn more about emotional eating.