Nobody will deny that the road to weight loss goes through diet and exercise, but anyone who's tried will tell you it isn't as simple as flipping a mental switch. Changing your eating and activity habits amounts to revamping your life. It's hard enough to learn what it takes to lose weight, but executing those change can require a different kind of effort. It's often described as "lacking willpower."
Psychological therapy for obesity through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obesity (CBT-OB) address that challenge. It goes beyond merely teaching you what lifestyle changes you need to make by also training you how to systematically address the mental and emotional obstacles that are thrown at you as you go through life. In effect, CBT-OB changes the task of losing weight from something that requires brute willpower to something that can be overcome through identifying problems and solving them.
Components of CBT-OB include:
1. Identifying and Challenging Negative Thoughts: CBT-OB aims to help individuals recognize and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs related to their body image, self-esteem, and weight loss journey. By examining and reframing these thoughts, individuals can develop a more positive and realistic mindset, which can positively impact their motivation, adherence to healthy behaviors, and overall well-being.
2. Setting Realistic Goals: CBT-OB assists in setting achievable and realistic weight loss goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. By breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable steps, individuals can maintain a sense of accomplishment and stay motivated throughout their weight loss journey.
3. Behavior Modification: CBT-OB helps individuals identify and modify unhealthy behaviors that contribute to weight gain, such as emotional eating, mindless snacking, or sedentary habits. By implementing strategies like self-monitoring, stimulus control, and problem-solving, individuals can develop healthier coping mechanisms and establish new, positive behaviors that support weight loss.
4. Developing Coping Skills: CBT-OB equips individuals with effective coping skills to manage stress, emotions, and other triggers that often lead to overeating or unhealthy food choices. Learning alternative strategies like relaxation techniques, mindfulness, and stress management can prevent emotional eating episodes and promote healthier responses to challenging situations.
5. Enhancing Self-Efficacy: CBT-OB focuses on building self-efficacy, which is an individual's belief in their ability to successfully engage in desired behaviors. By emphasizing past successes, providing positive reinforcement, and offering support, individuals can develop confidence in their ability to make sustainable changes and persist in their weight loss efforts.
6. Long-Term Maintenance: CBT-OB addresses the long-term maintenance of weight loss by helping individuals anticipate and manage relapse triggers and challenges. It emphasizes the importance of continued self-monitoring, goal setting, and problem-solving skills to sustain healthy habits and prevent weight regain.
Integrated Obesity Medicine that includes Psychological Therapy and Lifestyle Coaching is highly recommended to our patients because it is a High Intensity Lifestyle Intervention.
Studies have shown that High Intensity Lifestyle Interventions have been shown to help patients achieve greater weight loss.
High Intensity Lifestyle Interventions are defined as:
Interventions that include 14 or more sessions in a 6 month period that also include:
a dietary prescription;
a physical activity prescription and;
a structured behavior-change intervention.
By providing frequent counseling, education and support, patients are able to maximize the outcomes of their obesity treatment.
Online Cognitive-Behavior Modification Program is an affordable online education program that teaches patients how to incorporate CBT-OB into their lives. While it cannot replace High Intensity Lifestyle Intervention, patients can use this program to train themselves in a structured approach to healthy weight loss and maintenance that can be applied to many situations, from the beginning of weight loss to addressing potential relapses after successful weight loss.