Westminster Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Your guide to a balanced life
I am sure that you are aware of the fact that excessive weight is not just physical problem which can be resolved by going to the gym regularly or taking up an active sport. Most of us do know these days that psychological factors play a key role in activating the desire to eat, therefore the treatment often relies on a multidimensional approach.
Comfort eating brings a substitute for emotional needs and it can even become a way of coping with unhealthy negative emotions like depression, anxiety, anger, hurt or guilt. In addition to psychological factors, everyday life challenges can also contribute to overeating. Financial worries, sexual problems, domestic upsets and many others.
Overeating is a complex problem that deserves a thorough assessment which often has to start with addressing your self-talk, negative thoughts and beliefs. Triggers, whether cognitive or emotional, need to be identified in order to establish the underlying psychological patterns behind over eating.
One major obstacle to weight loss and its maintenance is a low frustration tolerance to effort and a need for immediate gratification and comfort. This major obstacle is similar to problems experienced by those battling alcohol and substance abuse. To lose weight requires persistence and a focus on the long term goals of weight loss rather than immediate gratification.
There are thousands of articles out there advising us how to lose weight over night or in a short period of time, however most of them are unsustainable. I often see clients who are driven by a great desire to lose weight and they have already tried many different ´guaranteed´ methods. Each time they don´t achieve what they wanted for a sustained period of time and then they feel even worse as they reinforce their demand “I should lose weight easily. It shouldn´t be so difficult. It is awful that I have to work so hard to lose a few pounds.” These demands perpetuate the levels of anxiety and diminish the motivation needed to stick with the desired healthy lifestyle objective.
I hope it´s becoming quite obvious from my article that by changing your way of thinking you will be able to change your lifestyle.