Why We Gain Weight And How To Lose It

Our emotions decide whether we gain or lose weight. How you feel
at any given moment will be the controlling force of your weight
loss effort.

Weight loss is all based upon our feelings and I would challenge
anybody to refute that statement.

We as human beings do things that bring us pleasure and we avoid
those things that cause us pain.

Why do we decide to overeat or indulge in those things that may
not be the best for us? Because it brings us pleasure.

Think about many occasions in your lifetime in which food was
the main focus. When we celebrate with friends or family, we eat.

When we mourn a loss of a loved one, food again is there
consoling people. When we are nervous, we eat. Sad, we eat.

When we are happy, what do we do? That’s right, eat. So by
overeating and consuming excess calories with excess food, we
start packing on the unwanted pounds.

But it brings us short term pleasure to eat. If it brings us
pleasure, it is emotion-based. The instant pleasure of eating
that Godiva chocolate or extra piece of pizza outweighs the pain
and guilt that will come at a later time when you notice the
scale starting to creep up again.

We do things at the moment that will bring us pleasure right
then and there, often not thinking of the future.

So, if weight gain is tied to emotions, then it stands to reason
that weight loss would be as well. If we do things based upon
pleasure, we must find pleasure in starting and maintaining a
weight-loss and fitness program.

If you do not recieve some pleasure from it, you will not
continue it. We must have strong enough reasons in the
not-so-distant future that will be pleasurable enough to keep us
motivated in continuing our weight-loss attempts.

What are some of your motivating reasons for you to reach your
goals? I bet they are emotion-based.

Do you want to fit into that new bathing suit to impress your
spouse? Do you want to attract the person of your dreams? Do you
want to enter your first bodybuilding or fitness show?

Or do you just want to feel better and have more energy?

Whatever you chose, the benefit you will receive later on must
be pleasurable enough so that you will resist the temptation of
giving in and enjoying immediate pleasure of a piece of cake or
scoop of Ben and Jerry’s.

So how do you solve your emotions so that you are not tempted to
give up and throw in the weight-loss towel?

First off, I don’t think you ever solve the problem, you simply
learn to manage your emotions better.

All of our actions are done because we get some sort of
emotional payoff from them. When you sit down at night and
gourge on food that you know you shouldn’t be, you are getting a
payoff of instant pleasure.

In order to stop this, we must substitute that payoff with a new
payoff of feeling better, looking better, or whatever it is you
want badly enough.

You must prioritize what things mean to you.

Is the future pleasure you will earn for losing 30 pounds going
to outweigh the pleasure of eating junk right now, at this
moment? You must ask yourself some hard-hitting questions.

It often amazes me that we will often times walk right up to
strangers and ask them out on a date yet we do not want to ask
ourselves some questions that may help solve a problem.

Ask yourself: What is it I am thankful for, right now? What in
my life would I like to change, right now? Why do I want to
change it?

What will these changes bring about, either now or in the near
future. What is it in my weight-loss efforts that I want to
truly achieve? Why do I want these goals so bad?

How will achieving them make me feel?

Do I really need this cookie/cake/ice cream right now or am I
pacifying something that is not going right for me, right now.

How will giving in to these urges make me feel a little later,
when the cycle of guilt comes back?

If you ask yourself some basic questions and learn to answer
them honestly, you can start focusing on the things that really
matter to you.

When you start doing what matters, this in turn will bring about
pleasure because you will have a sense of purpose and a feeling
of relief knowing that you are working on making things better.

And this in turn, goes right back to emotions and how you are
feeling at any given moment.

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