The environment you live in greatly affects your ability to control weight. Large portions, tempting foods, and social settings all contribute to overeating. Limiting portions and keeping tempting foods out of sight are some easy ways to reduce your consumption. Make it a point to plan your meals ahead of time. Avoid overeating before social events and eat in small portions. This will ensure you don’t overeat without even realizing it.
Another important step for weight control is to become autonomous. Self-control is an essential component in weight control, because it facilitates the avoidance of abandonment. By focusing on the process of behaviour, self-control can improve our behaviour even when our motivation is low. According to Deci and Ryan, inflexible thoughts and externally controlled behaviours may lead to unhealthy weight-control behaviors.
In addition to being important for overall health, food plays a critical role in social and psychological development. Many of our attitudes toward food are shaped during our childhood. Therefore, it is important to change the way we think about food and exercise. Today, many countries are promoting healthy eating and physical activity to combat obesity. In the United States, First Lady Michelle Obama launched a campaign called “Let’s Move!” with the goal of eliminating childhood obesity within a generation.
Research has shown that Grit personality plays an important role in the success of weight-control interventions. It is also important for health centers to employ psychologists who can explore personality patterns and use these factors to plan more effective interventions. By identifying the aspects of each client’s personality, health professionals will be able to focus on the goal that is most important for that client. By using a multidisciplinary approach, psychologists can help individuals control their weight through lifestyle changes.
The literature describes healthy and unhealthy weight-control practices. Healthy weight-control practices aim to improve health and prevent disease, and help people achieve the ideal body image. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake, increasing physical activity, and reducing the consumption of high-fat food are examples of healthy weight-control practices. However, unhealthy weight-control practices are dangerous and should be avoided.