Weight Loss & the Moody Blues
Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
Restrictive Dieting, Setting Yourself Up for Frustration & Diet Failure
Jenny has been on a restrictive diet for about one month and is feeling very blue.
She is also depressed because the amount of weight that she has lost is insignificant in relation to her weight loss expectations.
Dieter Jenny has lost only three pounds and her long term plan is to drop 47 more pounds. At this point, her expectations look overblown and unachievable.
In addition to her weight loss dilemma, her emotions are up, then down - and all over the board.
Restrictive Dieting Makes One Edgy, Irritable
She has become snappy at work, peppery at home, and her two little girls which she once considered angels appear to have sprouted horns.
Dieter Jenny is so unhappy with her diet that she is strongly considering returning to her former eating pattern. At this point, she is thinking that weight loss isn't as important as being happy - and even though she is overweight, at least she was happy in her pre-diet life.
Let's see if we can pull Dieter Jenny out of The Moody Blues and rescue her plans of weight loss in the process...
Lose Weight OR Be Happy - You Can Them Both
Jenny is correct in thinking that weight loss isn't as important as being happy. However, a healthy body is equally important as being happy. So Jenny shouldn't even think about Jumping Diet Ship just yet.
Sometimes We Need a New, Better Plan for Losing Weight
Although Jenny is on a restrictive diet, she really needs a new weight loss plan. The fact that she has achieved minimal weight loss signals that something is definitely wrong with the Diet Engine AND the Diet Caboose.
Set Sensible Weight Loss Goals
Once Jenny has chosen a healthy weight loss plan, she needs to polish her weight loss expectations and concentrate on Diet Realization.
Expectations are fine, but if a driver is taking a trip from Texas to New York in a car, the driver is unrealistic to expect to arrive in New York the next day. The driver gets to New York by driving a few miles each day.
It's the same way with weight loss. It takes time to lose weight, but a few pounds here and there add up to big weight loss results.
Jenny should expect a weight loss of about two pounds per week which is considered by health professional as a safe rate of weight loss for the human body.
Using the above example, the amount of time that it takes to reach New York depends a lot on the current condition of the car that is being driven.
Jenny will go further faster on healthy fuel (i.e. healthy food), and just like a car, she'll get more mileage on those freeway runs than she will during frequent stops (i.e. steady exercise) and like the car's engine, Jenny will need time to relax so that her weight loss plan doesn't overheat.
Medical Note About Clinical Depression
Whether you are dieting OR not, and begin to have feelings of depression, you should seek the advice of your doctor as soon as possible as you may have a more serious underlying condition requiring treatment. Clinical depression and occasional feelings of temporary sadness or depression are two different situations.
Related Articles
Calorie Burn Charts | Body Fat Index
Diet Bites is a Trademark