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Home » Lose Weight » Losing weight and your mental health – Foster’s Daily Democrat

By Dr. David Schopick

With the coming of spring, many people are focused on losing weight as bathing suit and short season is on the horizon. However, some people feel they cannot lose weight no matter how hard they try.

If medical causes have been ruled out, one question to ask might be, how is your mental health? Could there be something in your history or habits that is making you hold on to excess weight? Sometimes what is weighing on us are emotional issues, not just extra pounds.

Guidance on healthy eating and exercise plans are important for weight loss, but so is the right frame of mind. If you continually sabotage your weight loss efforts by hitting the drive-through, bingeing, or skipping those workouts with your trainer, it might be time to ask yourself if something is holding you back from achieving a healthy life.

A number of factors can cause us to harbor emotional or mental health issues that in turn may interfere with weight loss. Here is a quick overview of several.

1. You had a troubled history at home: People who grow up in abusive homes often turn to food for comfort. If there is little love or compassion or attention during your childhood, then it can be easy to turn to food for a different kind of nurturing. If the abuse is sexual, eating to become overweight and thereby become unappealing can be a way of trying to fight back and stop the abuse.

Those who have grown up in an abusive environment of any kind may continue to overeat even after becoming adults and leaving home. Even being in a loving relationship is sometimes not enough to heal the wounds of the past. In fact, sometimes, the overeating may not start until after the victim is an adult. Children may block out abuse for many years and then something triggers the memory of that pain. There can then be an emotional need to lessen those feelings with food.

2. You were a victim of bullying: Children who are overweight are frequently bullied, which only makes them more apt to eat as a way to ease the pain and stress. Children who are not overweight, but are bullied, may also have issues with food. In some, the stress of being victimized can lead to anorexia, but in others it can lead to overeating. The food issues, and the trauma of being bullied, can remain long after the actual bullying has stopped.

3. You have a history of depression or anxiety. People who battle depression or anxiety may frequently also battle being overweight. Why? Food is comfort; food is always there; food lets you stuff down those bad feelings and escape for a time. Eating keeps you from having to face deeper issues that might be troubling you. It can cover up feelings of pain and loss.

4. You feel you dont deserve to be happy. Strange as it may seem, many people who struggle with weight loss, or other self-improvement goals, are burdened by guilt. It may be over something that happened in their past, or it may be a distorted perception created by a parent or spouse or other relative.

A negative self-image can also sometimes simply evolve in your own mind over time. This feeling that they are not worthy can keep some people from fulfilling their goals and subconsciously cause them to sabotage weight loss efforts. They know they should be eating healthy yet they keep hitting the drive-through; they lose the weight, then binge and put it back on. They sign up with a trainer, but dont go to workouts. This cycle is likely to continue to repeat until they talk to a mental health care provider and start working on the reason why their self esteem is so low.

5. You are in a toxic relationship. If you are currently in a relationship where someone belittles you over your weight or weight-loss struggle, that can also block you from losing weight. It is hard to stay motivated if no one is supportive and is constantly eroding your self-esteem. Such ongoing negativity can lead to the aforementioned depression and anxiety as well.

Try distancing yourself from the toxic relationship. Find a workout partner and spur each other on. There are also many boot camps and other smaller, fitness groups whose goals include motivating each other. Ask at your local gym or search online.

6. You have unrealistic expectations. Sometimes, the culprit behind lack of weight loss is unrealistic expectations, or setting a goal that is not really your goal, but what you think your goal should be.

Not all women are going to be a petite size 2 and not all men are going to flaunt a six-pack. The goal is to achieve a healthy body weight that makes you feel good. This is a body weight that you are more apt to maintain. Talk with your doctor about what a healthy goal weight looks like and be proud of any weight loss you achieve. The goal of any weight loss program is not perfection or to have a Hollywood body, but to be healthy and feel positive about yourself.

7. You may have a sugar addiction. Sugar can be addictive, and those addicted to it find that they must eat not only more sugary foods but also sweeter foods and drinks in order for sugar to provide the kick they have come to expect.

Sugar stimulates the same parts of the brain as hard core drugs such as cocaine and heroin. It temporarily provides a feel good high and burst of energy, but as time goes by, more sugar is needed to produce the same effect. We also see sweet treats as a reward, so eating sugary items plays into this mindset. Sugar addiction can be overcome, although sometimes professional guidance is needed. People can learn to enjoy items that are less sweet or naturally sweet (such as fruits). This transition can aid greatly in weight loss and improving overall health.

If you have struggled with weight loss, and medical causes are not to blame, it might be helpful to talk to a mental health care provider to see if mental health issues are playing a role in your relationship with food and overeating. We all deserve to be healthy, and with the right support, you can achieve your weight-loss goals.

Dr. David Schopick is a psychiatrist in private practice in Portsmouth. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in adult, adolescent and child psychiatry and has been serving patients in the Greater Seacoast area and beyond for more than 25 years. For information, call 431-5411 or visit http://www.schopickpsychiatry.com.

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Losing weight and your mental health - Foster's Daily Democrat

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Home » Lose Weight » Losing weight and your mental health – Foster’s Daily Democrat