Body Perception and Effective Weight Loss

5 Signs You Need a Weight Loss Reality Check

Snap out of it! Step on the scale, lace up your sneakers, and stop fooling yourself with common diet and fitness fallacies
By Hollis Templeton fitbie
 

You Can't Face the Scale

When two-thirds of the US population is overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “average” is no longer a good point of reference for asking yourself if you need to lose weight.

It’s no wonder then that 25% of overweight women and 16% of normal-weight women misperceive their body weight, according to a University of Texas study of 2,200 females ages 18 to 25. The research, published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, also reveals that overweight women who considered themselves normal-weight were less likely to report weight-conscious behaviors like dieting and continuous exercise.

A simple solution: Measure your health by the numbers, and not just by how you “feel.” Problem is, not everyone is ready to face the facts. “Many of my clients are unwilling to step on a scale because they have made that number mean that they are out of control, unworthy, hopeless, and useless,” says Brooke Castillo, weight loss coach and author of If I Am So Smart, Why Can't I Lose Weight? “But by not measuring their weight, they go into an unconscious state of denial, which leads to unconscious eating, and later more weight gain.”

To refocus, find a way to measure your success that does not depend on the scale, says Castillo, who suggests keeping a food dairy or tracking miles run or minutes spent at the gym, and converting that into pounds lost. “Weigh yourself regularly, but don’t ever use that number as a reason to quit taking care of yourself.”

Why’s your body clinging to stubborn fat?

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