Weight Management

For most of us, it’s easier to put on weight than it is to lose weight. For some people, they struggle just to maintain, let alone increase their weight. For other people, they’ve spent a good portion of their lives with fluctuations in their weight. Regardless of what type of struggle you have, we all have the common goal of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight for our age and body type. There are fad diets that claim to help you lose, to build muscle, flatten your belly or show off your abs. The research and advice can be overwhelming and certainly contradictory. What was once considered the gold standard for weight management (fat is bad) is now irrelevant (fat is good – but only certain fats and not too much. Sugar is bad). Over simplistic approaches are also common – to lose weight eat less, do more. If you’ve struggled with your weight, you know it’s not that simple.  There can be many variables at work to hinder you in your quest for a healthy and stable weight – including you!

You are struggling with your weight if you:

• Are overweight
• Are underweight
• Experience ongoing fluctuations in weight
• Try every fad diet
• Are over exercising

Symptoms & signs of the effects of weight struggles

• Low self-esteem
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Relationship challenges
• Avoidance of sex or physical intimacy
• Body dysmorphia (extreme preoccupation with perceived body imperfections that in reality, are not there.)

When is it time to get help?

There are many programs available to help you achieve a healthy weight (mostly for weight loss). But maybe there’s more to managing your weight than just how much you eat in relation to how much you exercise. What barriers are within you that may need addressing? Why do you overeat, or undereat? Why is it so hard for you to exercise or reduce how much you exercise? Are you making excuses for your unhealthy choices? What is happening in your comfort zone and how can you get out of there if it’s harming you? These are complex issues that are about more than just a love of ice cream and a lack of willpower. If you’ve struggled to maintain a healthy weight and everything you’ve tried fails or doesn’t last, then it’s time to try something new – therapy!

Weight management treatment methods

There are many ways to maintain a healthy weight – diets, exercise regimens, etc. but there are also psychological treatments that can work too. Your therapist will talk with you to find out what is causing problems in your relationship with your weight and then determine a treatment method that will best suit your needs. Effective treatments include:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves.
• Mindfulness Therapy is an approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves, others, and the world. The ability to be in the moment, to acknowledge and regulate your emotions helps you to break free from negative thought patterns.
• Behaviour Therapy tends to view human beings and behaviour with the assumption that humans are a product of their sociocultural conditioning and environment, looking at the current problems and the factors influencing them and emphasizes behaviour changes more than the underlying unconscious processes.

What will I get out of treatment with Insight Psychological?

Insight can help you to overcome your weight struggles. Your therapist will work with you to determine the cause of your weight issues, find a treatment method that can work for you, and help you to reach and stay at that healthy weight range. Doing so will open up a world to you that will include better self-esteem, better health, and a feeling of control over an area that has been controlling you!

Insight has therapists who specialize in weight and eating disorders. If you are struggling, please contact us and we can help you find a therapist that’s right for you.