Mindfulness in weight loss

kmann76

Hi MFP colleagues,
I'm a physician (gyn) and I've been studying obesity and wellness practices and have this idea to combine them into one unified method to help people lose weight. I am trying to figure out if anyone would want to incorporate these ideas into their lives?
The more I learn about weight loss, the more I realize the simple calorie counting isn't the answer and that you can't really lose weight without addressing your mindset. I'm finally making some progress for myself. What are your thoughts?

1ZenJen

Yes, I believe positive thoughts equal positive results. Good luck on your journey!

AnnPT77

People who succeed do incorporate those ideas, in one way or another, seems like - based on hanging around here for nearing 8 years and reading lots of posts (and doing it myself). Whether you can write a book or create a program and help people (or turn a profit, more cynically, though you don't sound like that kind of person) - that's a little different question.

People say calorie counting is not the answer. IMO, in the strictest sense, it can be, but that explanation is a little narrow. It only applies to the realm where it applies, y'know? Of course, if a person eats fewer calories than they burn, they'll lose fat. There seem to be ample research to support that. But that's simplistic, just a foundation in physics.

But human bodies are dynamic. Calories in influence calories out. An aggressive calorie deficit (or sub-par nutrition) can sap energy or reduce calorie goal compliance, and result in worse than expected results in a practical sense. Body composition matters (at rest, a little; in ease/enjoyment of movement, or inclination to move, possibly a lot).

On top of that, humans have psychological states, and social contexts, and those influence eating habits in a big way. Calorie counting doesn't touch issues like emotional eating, or the social pressure of families for whom food is a love language (let alone a mechanism of control), and that sort of thing. Calorie counting doesn't provide any insight into guilt or compulsion around eating habits.

Most of us don't just want to be lighter (calorie compliance can do that), we want to be healthy (which is not just calories), maybe look more attractive (also not just calories) and more. Often, people conflate all of those goals, and conflate the different dimensions that go into them. Many people think exercise creates weight loss inherently (or is required), surprisingly many people seem not to realize that "just being alive" (BMR/RMR) burns more calories for a lot of people than exercise or daily life activity. People who don't calorie count often don't realize that one Starbucks Frappuccino (or calorie equivalent) wipes out the calories not only from one, but from multiple typical workouts. The popular press/blogosphere mostly don't help sort that out, and the health/diet/fitness industry has a vested interest in obfuscating the issues as much as they can (to convince us that we need their special expertise in order to succeed).

If you find a way of packaging the true and useful ideas that's consumer-friendly, you could be sitting on a gold mine . . . especially as an MD. Many consumers will think you, as a doctor, could have special insights. (Since you mention finally making progress yourself, I'm guessing you're not much differently situated than the rest of us, in practical terms. No diss intended, because no shame in that!)

I sincerely hope you're able to sort out this complicated mess for yourself, and hope that you can frame it in a way that will help others, too. (It's simple, but it's complicated. )

On the mindset side of things especially, I found this really interesting, especially part 2, in case you're not familiar with this or the studies mentioned.

https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/reframing-your-reality-part-1/
https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/reframing-your-reality-part-2/

Rockmama1111

@kmann76 I am going to send you a friend request--I don't think I can send a PM without being friends! I am a writer/e-learning developer and have been noodling how to create and market a comprehensive program that teaches and guides learners through the weight loss process. I've got a rough outline of courses and a wishlist of subject matter experts but that's as far as I've gone. I'd love to chat!

CM_73

Interesting post. I've been here for years - and struggling for years...
I'm really trying to find why I keep failing and I think it is mindset, more specifically the concept of loving yourself.
So, this is my new focus, trying to learn to love myself and seeing if that makes life easier. I suspect it's the root cause of most of my problems in life tbh.

eternalsummer

Mindfulness is important when attempting such a drastic behavioral change. Losing weight, exercising more, developing new habits and exercising control over portions and food choices requires mindfulness to get us out of our old habits, the way I see it. Implementing a whole new lifestyle can be stressful in the most basic sense that it requires us to adjust our automatic habits and rework them. This is more effort and energy expended than one normally outputs. Then you got other daily stressors that it make sense that a good way forward is using mindfulness and having tools to cope with incoming stressors while making adjustments. Research shows that it lowers cortisol as well which helps in weight loss efforts but I find it most fascinating that mindfulness can influence us to make healthier decisions by providing us the mental space we need that may not have been there otherwise unless we made effort to cultivate it.

peiotter

I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I like to go fast. I like to slide into home base. I prefer when I am challenged to develop a back up plan. Unfortunately this cortisol driven behaviour is terrible for loosing weight. Cortisol drives up insulin levels and you cannot burn fat. I am trying to develop mindfulness particularly at the beginning of the day when cortisol is naturally high. I think this will help me loose weight. Big behaviour change. I am determined to change!!!

kshama2001

kmann76 wrote: »

Hi MFP colleagues,
I'm a physician (gyn) and I've been studying obesity and wellness practices and have this idea to combine them into one unified method to help people lose weight. I am trying to figure out if anyone would want to incorporate these ideas into their lives?
The more I learn about weight loss, the more I realize the simple calorie counting isn't the answer and that you can't really lose weight without addressing your mindset. I'm finally making some progress for myself. What are your thoughts?

Hmm, I see this post is from April and the OP didn't come back, but I think Noom beat her to it:

https://www.noom.com/blog/what-is-noom-how-does-noom-work/

Also Beck:

The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person

Can thinking and eating like a thin person be learned, similar to learning to drive or use a computer? Beck (Cognitive Therapy for Challenging Problems) contends so, based on decades of work with patients who have lost pounds and maintained weight through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Beck's six-week program adapts CBT, a therapeutic system developed by Beck's father, Aaron, in the 1960s, to specific challenges faced by yo-yo dieters, including negative thinking, bargaining, emotional eating, bingeing, and eating out. Beck counsels readers day-by-day, introducing new elements (creating advantage response cards, choosing a diet, enlisting a diet coach, making a weight-loss graph) progressively and offering tools to help readers stay focused (writing exercises, to-do lists, ways to counter negative thoughts). There are no eating plans, calorie counts, recipes or exercises; according to Beck, any healthy diet will work if readers learn to think differently about eating and food. Beck's book is like an extended therapy session with a diet coach. (Apr.)