As with any human condition it is highly important to rule out medical reasons for an existing or recurring condition for our eating, where appropriate, as much as these can be diagnosed accurately.
When we are sure that the weight gain issues are originating from something other than a biological and clinical condition, then counselling can be highly effective in finding a meaningful strategy to alternative behaviour following an understanding from an introspective appraisal of oneself. This is best achieved in a controlled environment where you can feel safe, where it is confidential, and where judgements are left for outside!
See the Person, Not the Image
We know that at some stages in our lives we will feel ‘less than’. We ruminate about how the world ‘sees’ us and what people think of us. And we are faced with countless ‘airbrushed’ and contrived images of the ‘ideal’ physique. Yet like most things in life, the more you think you want something, the further it tends to get from you!
Imagine really believing in yourself. Imagine really caring less about what you ‘think’ others are thinking about you. We all make snap judgements about what we look at, but we can change that to remind ourselves to ‘see’ the person, not the image. And the truth is people are more worried about their own issues to care much for yours!
Clearing the Decks
Before this paradigm shift in our cultural and cognitive behaviour can occur, we need to consider (at least) clearing the decks. In talking about your life and your feelings, and in providing some ‘you’ time, you can start to see things for what they really are. This requires a supportive environment where empathy and coaching, counsel and guidance are the order of the day. To leave you focusing on what is the real you, so you can do the right things, for the right reasons and without the wrong struggles that lead to the yoyo weight issues which aside from anything else can increase the risk of diabetes and other associated chronic conditions!
Weight Gain
What else can be attributed to weight gain? As well as malaligned cognitive responses, because of experiences in childhood and beyond, the midlife arrangement is significant. Life begins at 40! …and so does the weight gain for many! And relax… Why do most people ‘let themselves go’ at the age of 41? from the Daily Mail in 2011 provides an interesting read.
So can counselling help with managing or reducing weight gain? Most certainly in my view, because ‘sufferers’ benefit from impartial guidance and coaching, can set goals and clear the decks rather than yield to peer pressure and the social punishment that is available to us all.
Counselling for guidance and life coaching is there for you for those reasons, as well as for when you are overwhelmed or are suffering other emotional health and well being issues. If you want to be successful, you can benefit from others and the offer of impartial counsel.
If weight loss subscription schemes are to be effective and are to see a great deal less ‘returners’ because weight gain has reoccurred, then counselling is an effective partner. If you change nothing, nothing will change.
Bob Brotchie is a counsellor, life coach and creator of Conscious Living by Design™. He writes for Anglia Counselling, is featured on various other websites and introduces us to many guest writers all covering topics related to mental health and wellbeing.
Bob provides bespoke counselling services to clients in the privacy and comfort of a truly welcoming environment at his Anglia Counselling company office, located near Newmarket in Suffolk, England. Bob also provides professional online counselling, for local, national, and international clients. The therapeutic models offered are bespoke to the client’s needs, especially those in receipt of 'childhood emotional neglect' (CEN), whilst integrating a mindful approach to psychotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles. For clients experiencing trauma and/or phobia, Bob offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing).