When and why weight loss will be good for your health.
However, there is a dark side to this. Restrictive diets and unrealistic depictions of physical perfection on social media have contributed to notable problems such as eating disorders and low self-esteem.
Losing weight is not always necessary to improve health; often weight loss as a health goal simply yields to societal pressure.But what is it? Is weight loss a good goal or a harmful one?
How to Find Out If Weight Loss is a Good Goal
When it comes to health, there are many reasons why losing weight can be a worthy goal.
Many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and joint pain, can be improved or even prevented by focusing on a healthy weight. For the average overweight person, weight loss may be an acceptable goal because of the health consequences or simply because of the realization that you feel better in your body when it is several kilograms lighter. As long as you have received the green light from a doctor or a certified nutritionist, it is perfectly acceptable to start a weight loss journey for the sake of improving health.
Despite the fact that you can see beautiful pictures on social networks, you do not need to be ashamed of the fact that you want to lose weight and feel better. The desire to return to a certain weight after childbirth or the desire to get into the clothes that you wore and that you liked are also quite worthy reasons to lose weight. It is your personal right to achieve what you want, even if public opinion may condemn your undertaking.
Weight loss for everyone?
For many people, sustained weight loss benefits both physical and mental health. But still not for everyone.
If you are already at a healthy weight, there is no need to try to change the number on the scales. Weight loss is also usually not recommended for people with a history of an eating disorder.
Determining whether weight loss is a good goal often depends on your motivation and the likely outcome. The desire to lose weight because of guilt, the desire to look like a magazine cover or to please someone else is not a recipe for happiness (and often also not a recipe for success).
If the reason for a person's weight loss comes from self-hatred rather than self-compassion, it can do more harm than good.
It is also worth noting that popular diets (especially all kinds of fads (often very expensive) aimed at weight loss) often do not take root. Either you will not be able to lose weight on them, or the lost weight will quickly return again as soon as you stop following such a diet.
If you have tried several diets without sustained results, it may be better to focus on other goals, such as adding more fruits and vegetables and more activity, rather than losing weight.
How to Set a Wise Weight Loss Goal
If you want to have a goal –a beautiful figure - that's fine, but think about it freely and instead work on behaviors that will help you achieve it. Perhaps you will feel more confident in yourself by setting weight loss goals that are less related to numbers and more to other factors of well-being. Here are four examples to consider.
Align goals with the necessary health outcomes
For those who are working on weight loss for the sake of health benefits, it may be useful to remember the benefits themselves. Perhaps your goal when losing weight is to sleep better at night, relieve back or joint pain, or lower blood sugar levels. The expectation of an improvement in physical condition can push you to more than the numbers on the scales.
Connect goals with feelings or experiences
Humans are emotional beings, and it's not surprising that a feeling or an emotional experience can tell us that we've achieved a goal. For example, you may feel more confident or not be afraid to appear in photos. Maybe you just feel better in your clothes when you get dressed in the morning.
Keep your timeline realistic
As much as we would like to trim dramatic weight loss goals, extreme, rapid weight loss is usually unrealistic, and often it can even be dangerous. People who lose weight steadily and gradually are more likely to maintain their success in the long run.
Whatever goal you set, it is very important to make it feasible. You can aim for a modest number, for example, to lose from 200g to 700g per week. You can even set a temporary goal, such as sticking to a new meal plan for 90 days. Just remember that small steps add up — once you've reached your first goal, no matter how small it is, you can always keep going down the path.
Result
If you plan to lose weight, think about your motives. Feel free to discuss them with your doctor, nutritionist or therapist. A psychotherapist or nutritionist can help you identify realistic goals that will help you achieve a long-term goal and maintain its result.
