A team of trainers and an empty calendar? A bag of baby carrots and the resolve of a living statue? Good genes? Nope, nope, and nope. The latest research says that the key to lasting weight loss is all in your head. Here’s how to unlock the slimmer, healthier you. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO to lose weight: Eat a little less, move a little more, and figure out what works for your body. “No more chocolate,” you declare. “I’ll take up CrossFit,” you promise. “I can live without chips for a while,” you vow. But then one day you’re tired. Or grumpy. Or that lethal combo: hangry. So you figure you deserve the raspberry truffle ball, dammit. And before you’ve polished off that leftover holiday candy, you’ve begun spiraling down a slippery slope that ends with ice cream on the couch at midnight.
Written by Laura Schocker Illustrations by Guyco
Lifestyle shifts like joining a gym and stocking the fridge with fresh produce are good, but to really move the needle on the scale, you need to delve deeper, says Holly Lofton, assistant professor of medicine and surgery and director of the medical weight-management program at NYU Langone Medical Center. “Take a hard look at your past weightloss attempts,” she advises. “Think about what got inyourway, then find solutions to those issues now.” If you never went to the gym because it was too far away, consider taking brisk walks. If you regained weight after a strict regimen of lettuce and nutrient shakes because you didn’t know what to eat once the diet was over, you’ll need a more livable plan from the start.And ifyou don’twant to be known as the “heavy sister” anymore? Reframe that goal so it speaks to the positive things you want for yourself. It’s more enjoyable, of course, to run toward something wonderful than away from something awful. That’s all easier said than done. To help, here All the science in the world won’t help you lose weight if your are a few common pitheart isn’t in the game. It’s not enough to know what to do—the falls. See which ones ring secret is understanding how to make yourself do it. What desires familiar—and learn to are driving your weight-loss efforts? How can you tweak your daily sidestep them once and routine to make new, healthier habits feel easy? Experts have disfor all. covered that shifting your mind-set can give you an edge. “Dieting books focus almost exclusively on what and what not to eat, with the assumption that this is just a mechanical process,” says clinical psychologist Edward Abramson, professor emeritus of psychology at California State University in Chico and the author of Emotional Eating. “It’s like, ‘If you know you shouldn’t eat bacon, then you just shouldn’t eat bacon.’ ” That’s why people fail at diets: They forget to account for moments of boredom, weakness, or sadness, or for any other perfectly normal situation that could get in the way.
FEBRUARY 2017
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