How Your Mood Affects Your Weight Loss Results

We have been hearing for years how a positive attitude opens many doors in life. You know the saying “positive mind=positive results.” So, can your attitude affect whether you are successful in your weight loss venture?

Our mood plays a large roll in our ability to slim down. And, the relationship between weight loss and a positive mental state is interchangeable. What does that mean? If you have a positive attitude, it will positively affect your weight loss success. In the same token, if you have positive weight loss success, it will boost your mood and attitude.

So, if our mood affects our weight loss results, in what specific ways can we see a difference?

• Food choices. Our mood affects what we eat, and what we eat affects our mood. For example, coffee improves our mood, which is why many people start their day with a fresh cup of coffee. When we eat healthy our bodies naturally feel better and this improves our mood. Just as there are various foods that affect the way we feel, how we are feeling affects what we choose to eat. When we are stressed, we tend to lean towards foods that are sweet and high in calories. Additionally, the more stressed we become the more likely we are to binge eat to make ourselves feel better.
• The biggest culprit in our ability to lose weight when it comes to our mood is stress. Not only do we turn towards unhealthy foods when we are stressed, our hormones affect our body’s ability to lose weight. Cortisol is the hormone produced by our body when we are stressed. It has been known to reduce our body’s ability to shed the pounds by causing us to hold onto stubborn fat. Those of us who turn to emotional eating often have a higher body mass index. This is generally because of the effects of the hormone Cortisol in our system. Another hormone that can affect our ability to lose weight is Ghrelin. This directly affected our desire to eat, and Ghrelin has been noted to have a higher presence in our systems during stressful times.
• Coping skills.The way we cope with life is different for everyone. Some people can take in stress and let it roll right off their backs. Other people hold onto stress in a way that can affect their body. The link between coping skills and weight loss results has been measured by studies that involve overweight individuals. Many studies show that overweight individuals use eating as a coping skill for poor mood and stress.

Focusing on maintaining a more positive mood not only makes you feel better mentally, it has physical effects as well. If you are finding yourself in the middle of a weight loss rut, see what you can do to improve your mood and you just might notice a change in your results.