Weight Loss: Establishing a Healthy Weight Loss Philosophy, Gradual and Protective Body and Mind

Your Previous Weight
Hormonal and bone structure changes mean that the weight you easily maintained in your 20s is now much harder to maintain unless you drastically reduce your calorie intake and significantly increase your exercise. You might be able to maintain this in the short term, but weight loss requires sustained effort.

Competition
Sometimes, we wonder how much our role models, our best friends, or our slim mothers weigh. The problem is that weight varies greatly due to differences in bone structure. If your bones are heavier than your friend's, she will always be lighter than you, even if you wear the same size clothes.

Inaccurate Perceptions
We middle-aged and older adults often think we look fatter than we actually are, so we try to lose even more weight, but we never quite reach our ideal weight. Dr. Olson says, "Women who lose weight still complain that their thighs are too fat." In a survey, when women were asked how they rated their body shape, half had inaccurate perceptions, always feeling that their bodies were larger than they actually were. Researchers have found that the more inaccurate a woman's self-perception, the more likely she is to lose weight.

Misconception

We often hear that we should lose weight to stay healthy. But it's more harmful to be anxious about not being able to maintain a healthy weight than to accept being 10 or 15 pounds heavier than ideal. That's what Dr. Joanne Karen Colantano, Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of New Hampshire, says.

"A healthy weight has a wide range, and you have to be realistic about that range," Dr. Colantano explains. "If you're overly concerned about keeping your weight at a certain number, I don't think it's worth it. I see women going to great lengths to keep their weight within what they consider the right range. In fact, they would be much freer if they forgot about that weight and focused on cultivating a healthy lifestyle."

Setting a target number that's too low on the scale, besides causing anxiety and tension, is doomed to failure, says Dr. Olson, adding that weight loss is a rather painful process. Women are perfectionists because no matter what the scale shows, even if the weight has gone down, we're not satisfied. We want to lose more. We'll be disappointed. Then, we ate whatever we wanted and gained weight again.

Is your weight a health threat? If you are obese, meaning you are 20% overweight, then your primary goal in losing weight is to improve your health. But here's the surprising thing: you don't have to reach a normal weight to benefit.

Being overweight and obese are often linked to these diseases: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, gallbladder disease, diabetes, and cancer. You don't need to calculate how much above-normal weight you need to be in a dangerous situation; just look at your body in the mirror, says Dr. Joanie Conway, a research chemist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center in Batesville, Maryland. If you can pinch an inch of extra fat in certain parts of your body, then you are probably overweight and in a dangerous situation.

Losing just 10% of your body weight can make a big difference to your health, says Dr. Karen Colantano. That means all you need to do is lose one pound a week. For example, if you weigh 170 pounds, you only need to lose 17 pounds in 17 weeks to improve your health. Once you reach that goal and feel you still want to lose more, then set a 10% goal.

“Even losing 5 to 10 pounds very appropriately can have a very positive and important impact on health,” says Susan Zelitz-Vinowski, an expert in diabetes and digestive and kidney disease research at the National Institutes of Health. At an informal meeting on weight at the American Health Foundation, a panel of 20 experts came together to determine the best healthy weight loss goals: 10 pounds for a 5-foot (1.52-meter) tall woman and 14 pounds for a 5.8-foot (1.76-meter) tall woman. They concluded that such moderate weight loss would be sufficient to reduce the risk of disease and maintain good health.

Start doing things in your life. Women often suppress their lives until they lose weight. But before we lose that pound, there are many things we can now do that we've been putting off. Here are some simple steps we can take to start doing things women often postpone, says Dr. Johnny Johnson, a clinical psychologist in Delmar, California, who specializes in body image and eating disorders.

We avoid: Wearing a swimsuit

Why: We feel insecure or shy.

How to overcome: First, wear your swimsuit at home, but don't go out; just walk around the house. Look at yourself in the mirror. Eventually, this act of wearing a swimsuit in private will make wearing it in public more comfortable and natural. When you go to a public pool or beach for the first two times, go with a larger friend or a group of plus-size women, or take a water aerobics class specifically designed for plus-size women.

We avoid: Seeing a doctor.

Why: Fear that the doctor might prescribe a weight-loss treatment or that the doctor will attribute all health problems to weight.

How to overcome: Search around until you find a doctor you feel comfortable with. You have a good understanding of your body. When your doctor attributes a health problem unrelated to your weight, you can defend yourself. Tell the nurse you don't like being weighed.

We avoid: Insisting on our opinions at work and in social situations.

Why: We feel unworthy of our opinions. We feel that those who speak out must be slim and beautiful, and we feel we don't belong among them.

How to overcome: You know everyone's opinion has value. Don't focus on your appearance but on your inner qualities, such as your wisdom and kindness. If you need help, consider taking some confidence-building courses.

We avoid: Continuing education.

Why: Our anxieties about our bodies lead us to fear failure. We feel we don't have enough time to concentrate on studying unless we lose weight. We feel our weight is a big problem, while learning is a small one in life. For some, they even fear not being able to sit still at a desk in class.

How to overcome: If you spend too much time worrying about your appearance, use that time for studying. Remember, learning is a big deal, not appearance. If you're worried about not having enough space at your desk, apply for a larger space at school; the law requires desks to be provided for overweight students.

What we avoid: Dating.

Why: Insecurity, fear of rejection, even thoughts like, "There must be something wrong with the man who wants me," and the assumption that men will find us unattractive.

How to overcome: Focus on your attractive qualities instead of worrying about your flaws. Repeatedly recall all the reasons why you are lovable. Remember that you may be more concerned about small imperfections in your appearance than others. Understand that men are not as demanding of women's bodies as they are of their appearance. Historically, couples have chosen each other based on character, values, and morals. Appearance may be important on the first few meetings, but meaningful relationships are built on a deeper understanding.

However, if you are not overweight, losing 5, 10, or even 15 pounds won't significantly impact your health. Improving health through weight loss is primarily aimed at obese patients. Therefore, if you've always weighed around 120 pounds and then gained 10 pounds after menopause, you don't need to lose those 10 pounds for health reasons.