14 DAY TRIAL // What with the power of positive thinking and everything that’s being said about it, happiness and optimism can actually work against us in certain situations. One such situation is when starting a weight-loss program, since negative emotions are more likely to lead to visible results than optimism, a recent study quoted by Press TV informs.
Researchers have managed to determine that people who are happy with their appearance and whose mood would be described as optimistic are more likely to fail when embarking on a weight-loss program. Oppositely, those who harbor negative emotions are more aware and critical of their appearance, therefore invest more effort in said program. This, in turn, leads to more visible results in terms of shifting the extra weight.
“Obese individuals who are happy and optimistic are believed to be less successful in losing weight and slimming programs, a new study finds. Previous studies had reported that some negative emotions have positive effects on behavior modification, helping patients care more about their lifestyle and disease.” Press TV says of the study published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine.
However, the key to successful weight-loss is to be found in self-awareness and the balance between the too-optimistic and the too-negativist approach, the study has also learned. This way, those who were made to see what needed to be changed about their body with the help of counseling were also those who lost the most weight for longer periods of time. At the opposite pole were those happy with their appearance who did not change the perception they had on their body during the study. Negativists lost the weight, but failed to maintain the loss for much longer.
“The positive aspects of the FC [‘free child’] ego state involve controlling negative emotion and are related to the ability to look on the bright side and do things in one’s own style, while the negative aspects are not caring about disease and giving in to temptation because of optimism, as well as instinctive and impulsive behaviors. It is important to enhance patients’ self-effectiveness and self-control in order to reduce psychological stress and to maintain the weight loss.” the authors of the study say, as quoted by the aforementioned publication.