How Can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Support Weight Loss?
Change Your Attitudes Towards Dieting Forever
Do you struggle to lose weight or keep the weight off in the long term? CBT will help you change your thought patterns and behaviour, so you meet your goals.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is often described as a talking therapy. It works by getting you to address the way you think and feel about certain issues such as weight loss or addiction. Once you understand the way you view your challenges, and the way that you usually behave when you tackle them, only then will you be able to change to a more successful path. Cognitive behavioural therapy can help you make sense of some particularly overwhelming feelings, which is essential when it comes to dealing with weight loss.
Around two thirds of Brits are on a diet most of the time, according to research revealed by Mintel, yet many believe that they don’t have the time to commit to being healthy. These sad statistics highlight the need for a new approach to weight loss. CBT is an important tool to be used which helps you gain a new perspective on where and why you have been struggling.
Changing Behaviour
We should all know by now that losing weight is about consuming less calories than you’re using up in energy. By moving more and eating less, we’ve essentially found the perfect equation to help us lose weight. If only it were that simple. The point at which many dieters fall is that although they know what they should be doing, they find it difficult to actually do it. Some dieters will look into weight loss surgery as a quick-fix solution, but many find the gastric band cost to be prohibitively high. In any sense, weight loss surgery only tackles the physical issue and leaves the mental aspects of the problem untouched.
If this all sounds familiar and you struggle mentally with dieting, then you might find it hard to avoid temptation. Perhaps you tell yourself you’re too tired or busy to exercise, or you just find the whole process of dieting to be boring? If so, then it’s time to adjust your way of thinking, and your behaviour will follow suit.
Creating Positive Long-term Habits
CBT allows us to train our brain to think differently about our responses to what we choose to consume. During therapy, we might choose to repeat some positive affirmations or remind ourselves of our weight loss goals. By writing down some key points on cue cards and reading them every morning and every evening, our brain will become immersed in the goal and will be wired towards achieving success. Simple reminders that ‘hunger and craving will pass, so I should distract myself in the meantime’ are really important. You can also tell yourself that ‘my body doesn’t know it’s Christmas, I’ll process food in the same way as usual and will end up piling on weight’.
Advance Planning
Of course, celebrations like Christmas, a family holiday or attending a wedding all have the potential to cause a setback to your diet. The best way to handle these is to prepare for them well in advance, so you know exactly how you’ll cope with the temptations thrust in front of you. If you have the opportunity, check out any menu in advance so you know which healthy options you’ll be able to order. You might also choose to eat your favourite foods more slowly so that you don’t feel deprived of a treat, but you won’t overdo it either.
If you’re looking to lose weight for good, then CBT is an important therapy to help you achieve your goals. In some cases, CBT is available on the NHS, so why not arrange a chat with your GP?