Weight loss according to psychology

Fab30s

I took an intro to psychology class during college as one of my electives. The professor told us that all overweight people who lose weight eventually gain it back, and that is what it surely said in the text book we were using. I remember feeling so defeated. This was in 2003. Did anyone else ever read that? Or was anyone else ever taught that? Why does psychology teach that poison, particularly to young people?

F00LofaT00K

I took an intro to psychology class during college as one of my electives. The professor told us that all overweight people who lose weight eventually gain it back, and that is what it surely said in the text book we were using. I remember feeling so defeated. This was in 2003. Did anyone else ever read that? Or was anyone else ever taught that? Why does psychology teach that poison, particularly to young people?

It is true that a significant percentage of overweight people DO gain the weigh back (sometimes even more!) but they are typically the people who have binge eating disorders and do not seek counseling for assistance or the people who follow very restrictive or incredibly low calorie diets and drop an excessive amount of weight very rapidly. If you follow a sustainable diet at a moderate deficit, you can train yourself how to eat well with ALL of the foods that you like in moderation. Then, once you reach maintenance, all you have to do is keep eating the same way only a little bit more. After many months or a few years of training yourself, there's no reason why you can't stick with it.

Did the book truly say "everybody?" It sounds like the professor was making a generalization. There are plenty of people who have lost a significant amount of weight and manage to keep it off. It's all about teaching yourself about proper nutrition: meeting macronutrient goals and being aware of the calories you are putting into your body.

Here are some articles on the topic:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/438395-the-percentage-of-people-who-regain-weight-after-rapid-weight-loss-risks/

http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/top-reasons-diets-dont-work/

EvgeniZyntx

It was probably a great lesson; you learned:

Don't believe everything you learn
Statistics isn't a death sentence
The emotional value you attach to a subject is your own
You are the master of your destiny

You should thank your prof.

Cranquistador

It was probably a great lesson; you learned:

Don't believe everything you learn
Statistics isn't a death sentence
The emotional value you attach to a subject is your own
You are the master of your destiny

You should thank your prof.

F00LofaT00K

It was probably a great lesson; you learned:

Don't believe everything you learn
Statistics isn't a death sentence
The emotional value you attach to a subject is your own
You are the master of your destiny

You should thank your prof.

Awesome. That being said, I was told MANY things by many different professors while I was working on my BA degree that I would later discover were not true. A linguistics professor once told me that the Inuit people have over 50 words to describe the different types of snow. I discovered, upon my own research, that this was a fallacy made up by some Franz Boas guy just to prove a point he wanted to make for one of his own theories. The biggest thing college taught me was to ALWAYS find your own sources for EVERYTHING and never take somebody's word as fact. ALWAYS check it out.

SunofaBeach14

If you are looking for a reason to quit, there are many, but understand that you are the key to your own success and you need not be a slave to stats.

fit4lifeUcan2

It was probably a great lesson; you learned:

Don't believe everything you learn
Statistics isn't a death sentence
The emotional value you attach to a subject is your own
You are the master of your destiny

You should thank your prof.

I learned the same thing last semester in my psych class. Its not said to make you feel defeated or get you to quite before you even get started. Its a fact. Take from it what you will but it means you need to continue to work at keeping the weight off. It needs to be a life style change not a temporary weight loss diet. The study shows that most people go on these diets to lose the weight and then stop eating healthy and stop exercising once they've lost it all only to put it back on. They don't maintain. Use it as motivation to keep working on being healthy for the rest of your life.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

Most psychologists are *kitten*. Psychology professors who get the huge ego boost from writing textbooks that cost $175 each are even worse.

Statistically speaking, of course. Not all of them are *kitten*. I've met 3 who weren't.

QuietBloom

I gained the 'freshman 15' when I started college. Lost it a year later, and have not yet gained it back. I am 49, so you can do the math of how long I've kept it off. :laugh:

Papillon22

If that professor was a psychologist, I hope I never need his/her help because generalizations are never fair He/she is negating the fact that we are all different and also oversimplifying the causes of obesity, which are varied. So, stay focused on your goals and keep up your good work. You can achieve what you want to and you have within you the resources to do it.

tennisdude2004

If that professor was a psychologist, I hope I never need his/her help because generalizations are never fair He/she is negating the fact that we are all different and also oversimplifying the causes of obesity, which are varied. So, stay focused on your goals and keep up your good work. You can achieve what you want to and you have within you the resources to do it.

Not all psychologists are bad.

That guy in the documentary - perception - seems okay.

47Jacqueline

Based on my experience, that psychologist was wrong.

Lunira

I took an intro to psychology class during college as one of my electives. The professor told us that all overweight people who lose weight eventually gain it back, and that is what it surely said in the text book we were using. I remember feeling so defeated. This was in 2003. Did anyone else ever read that? Or was anyone else ever taught that? Why does psychology teach that poison, particularly to young people?

I have a BA in psychology, and I was not taught that. As to what we were taught... hrm. I don't know how to phrase this in a way that will not give offense to some readers, but here goes:

Frankly, eating too much food (and the obesity that results) is no different than any other maladaptive attempt to self-medicate away one's unresolved issues, emotional problems, etc. If you want to not gain the weight back (or take up a similarly self-destructive coping mechanism), you'll need to address whatever painful issues you were trying to anesthetize yourself to with excessive food in the first place.

Fab30s

It was probably a great lesson; you learned:

Don't believe everything you learn
Statistics isn't a death sentence
The emotional value you attach to a subject is your own
You are the master of your destiny

You should thank your prof.

THIS!!! Very well said. Yes, the psychology book said 'all people'. And the prof and his book were wrong. I know that now.

goldthistime

My assumption is that psychologists believe those of us that have gained weight have "psychological issues" of some sort that will tend to resurface at some point in our lives. For me, vigorous exercise is a magic potion. It is my sleeping pill, my antidepressive and my anger management medicine all rolled into one. As long as I am exercising regularly, I have no desire to overeat...no "issues".

The only thing I have to grapple with then is how to consider myself "worth it" enough to ensure I get that vigorous exercise even when my tendency has been to put my ambitions ahead of health and fitness. I've known people who lost weight and kept it off forever. But they were all people who tied their careers to health and fitness.

I have gained and lost 30 lbs over and over. Whenever I felt like I needed to devote ALL my energies to meet a challenge, I have set aside my fitness routines, and abused carbs. Why? Because it worked. I have accomplished some things in my life that I'm quite proud of doing just that. In the short term, the extra time I got from dropping exercise, and the extra boost I got from devouring carbs has been effective. But in the long term? Maybe not. Whatever I gained in the beginning I suspect I lost in the end. Without my beloved exercise I believe I became less effective eventually.

With that mindset, I am expecting long term success this time around. Statistics be damned.

ninerbuff

He's not far off. 90% of all dieters regain significant weight. That's the stats. But not EVERYBODY regains a significant amount of weight.

I don't buy into all psychology either since it was a psychologist that made up the somatotype (ecto, meso, endomorph) which is total BS.

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Papillon22

Not all psychologists are bad.

I know. I'm studying to become one

He's not far off. 90% of all dieters regain significant weight.

Good thing we are here to change our lifestyles, not to diet!