How Your Personality Can Help You Change Body

Whenever I read on the topic of personality and weight loss, the message is how our personality traits are limiting our potential. Here is one article in The Wall Street Journal, Is Your Personality Making You Put on Pounds?, and another in the Huffington Post, How Personality Can Influence Your Weight. Both suggest that certain personality traits are associated with the development of obesity. My worry about the contention that our personalities are making us fat is that it suggests that people who are overweight have some sort of personality deficiency. Personality is multidimensional, not driven by a single trait.  Each of us has a unique combination of traits. This means that we probably have some traits that work for us and others that work against us. There isn't a "fat" personality or a "thin" personality per se. The key is to channel the personality traits that will work for you to accomplish your weight loss goals. Instead of focusing on the negative, let’s focus on the positive. Below I explain how to tap into nine personality traits to maximize your weight loss potential, and for fun, I suggest an inspirational song that resonates with each personality trait.

 

1. Stubborn — To all you asses out there (myself included!) Congratulations! Being stubborn is your ace in the hole if you are trying to lose weight. Channel stubbornness towards people and forces that are working against you. While in the grocery store, stubbornly resist the food companies that are trying to reprogram your brain to obsess about sugar and fat.  Stubbornly resist the people who tell you to eat when you aren’t hungry, who say you shouldn’t go out to exercise because it’s raining, or who tell you why bother you are just going to gain it all back — even if the person saying that is YOU.  Inspirational Song: "And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going" by Jennifer Hudson

2. Competitive — You are in it to win it. Sometimes it’s not even a game and you’re still trying to win. If this describes you, then leverage your competitive spirit to work towards your weight loss goals. Identify your personal record (PR) for your exercise pace/time and always try to break it. Use races to help you increase your performance and conditioning. Joining a community sports team might also allow you to get in some healthy competition. Do a call-out on Facebook to see if you have any friends who might have a team or be willing to join one. Active video games like Nintendo Wii and Kinect might also be a great fit for you because you can constantly try to improve your scores (and of course, massacre your friends!). Inspirational Song: "I Can’t Stand Losing" by "The Police or All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled

 

BUT! MORE IMPORTANT

3. Anal Retentive/Obsessive Compulsive — Cleanliness and orderliness is your business. You are annoyed by people who are disorganized, not punctual, and overlook details. Your attention to detail exceeds most people which will make you especially capable of accurately estimating your energy balance (i.e., calories consumed versus calories burned). If this is you, you will benefit more than the average person from diet and physical activity self-monitoring. Channel your energies into really understanding your own personal energy needs and the factors that cause you to go over or under. Also, I suggest making a formal workout schedule, putting into your calendar, and tracking progress. Your personality style should allow you to be better than most at keeping to it. Inspirational Song: "The Devil Is In the Details" by Chemical Brothers

4. Spiteful/Angry — Tit for tat and an eye for an eye. Somebody wrongs you and they usually regret it.  Should you simmer down? Hell no, channel that piss and vinegar toward all the forces working against you. Boycott food companies that produce junk. Send them a letter to tell them what you think. Set a goal that someone said you could never achieve and then make sure they know about it. Someone called you lazy? Sign up for a race and then post the finish line pic on your Facebook profile. The exercise will also help to relax you when you are really keyed up.  Inspirational song: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks

5. Selfish — Always looking out for number one? Good for you. A study by Larsen and colleagues (2004) showed that “egoism” or the tendency to be self-enriching and/or self-centered was associated with a greater capacity to maintain weight loss. The reason may be because you are better at investing time into yourself. Apply this to a healthy lifestyle by guarding your exercise time, insisting on healthy restaurants when you go out in a group, and monopolizing the grocery shopping and meal planning to insure that they all involve healthy choices. Inspirational song:  "My Way or the Highway" by Limp Bizkit

TAKE CARE OF YOU FIRST! BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T... YOU GET OUT OF BALANCE

AND YOU FORGET HOW TO TAKE CARE OF OTHERS    J.SMITH

6. Nonconformist — Do you generally think most people are idiots? Perfect. You will be right more times than not if you apply that attitude to the latest fad diet program. Your tendency to be critical will help you stay the course of healthy lifestyle and less vulnerable to the preaching of the latest “expert” who is trying to sell a product but has no actual training or experience in weight management. Not allowing yourself to get sucked into fads is actually really important because succumbing to fad diets is basically a “time-out” from true progress. Inspirational song: "Raise Your Glass" by Pink

7. Funny Guy/Girl — Are you the one always keeping everyone in stitches? This attitude will become essential at times when you’ll need to roll with the punches. It will help you laugh at mistakes, small regains, mean-spirited comments, and bad days. Not letting the hard times get you down really is the key to persistence and having a great sense of humor will be a tremendous benefit in those times. Inspirational song: "Let the Good Times Roll" by the Cars

8. Social Butterfly — Chatty patty? Lahmann and colleagues (2011) showed that people who described themselves as social and friendly lost the most weight in a weight loss program. If you enjoy socializing then you might consider blogging about your weight loss journey. Starting a blog is easy these days and a blog will help you build a community to support your weight loss effort. I also recommend joining Twitter and following others who are working towards a healthy lifestyle. You can follow the list I made on Twitter of such folks, called The Healthy List. Building a community of support is instrumental to success and this will come natural to you so take advantage! Inspirational Song: "Talk Too Much" by Run DMC

9. Addictive Personality — The tendency to develop addictions can certainly cause problems for people, however, such individuals are also likely to have a greater capacity to experience the reinforcing effects of exercise given that exercise taps pleasure centers in the brain. Once you get going, you may develop a greater than average affinity for exercise and it also may protect you from developing and dealing with unhealthy addictions. One recent study showed that exercise might prevent the development of some addictions (Fontes-Riberio et al 2011) and others have shown that exercise can reduce addictive cravings and behaviors (Buchowski et al 2011). If you have struggled with addictions, turn your vulnerability into a strength and make the come back of your life. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shrink/201208/how-your-personality-can-help-you-lose-weight

Get Inspired to Get Fit!

How One Woman Lost 200 Pounds and Changed Her Life

Jessica Whitehead, 41

Director of sales for a technology company, Cheshire, CT

Before: 345 lbs After: 145 lbs

Jessica Whitehead was never one to pass up a good time—especially if food was involved. For years she met friends every night for dinner, ordering the largest sizes and every add-on: extra cheese on her pizza, extra mayo on her overstuffed sandwiches, and a side of chips or fries with her meal.

"Eating big and trying everything was symbolic of success and living my life fully—I literally 'lived large,' " she says. But if someone asked her to play volleyball or go skiing, Jessica, 5'5", always opted out because she feared her weight—which peaked at 345 pounds at age 36—would prevent her from participating. "I was embarrassed. I felt as if I couldn't do those things."

The Change

In July 2005, Jessica's luggage was lost on a trip to France. For two days, she shopped for clothes to wear on the vacation, but it quickly became clear that none of the stores carried size 32. An entire country doesn't even acknowledge people like me; they don't believe people my size exist, she remembers thinking. Finally comprehending her unhealthy condition, Jessica resolved to lose weight when she returned to the States.

The Lifestyle

Back home, Jessica traded her excessive eating habits for a high-protein diet, and she began reading food labels and learning portion control. She eventually joined a gym and hired a trainer, who created a program that blended cardio and circuit training. Six days a week, she walked or ran the mile and a half from her home to the gym, did her workout, and then hoofed it back. In just two weeks she dropped 25 pounds! Motivated by her results, Jessica started tweaking her gym routine every six weeks to bust through plateaus, and she also began spreading her calories out over six small meals a day.

With the scale down to 190 by February 2007, Jessica began experimenting more in the kitchen, finding new ways to add veggies to her favorite chicken and fish dinners. She even had her cable turned off so she couldn't watch TV while she ate. "I wanted to sit down and actually enjoy what I was eating," she says. By May 2008, she was a toned 145 pounds.

The Reward

Today, "living large" to Jessica means hiking, rock climbing, and running 5-Ks. "I'm making up for lost time. I'm not going to waste a minute of my new life," she says. And now that she's 200 pounds lighter, nothing seems impossible. "I've accomplished the one thing I thought I could never do—lose weight and be fit and active and truly healthy—so now I know I can do anything."

Jessica's Tips

Be a loudmouth.

"Tell everyone about your decision to lose weight so they'll hold you accountable."

Indulge in the best.

"When I treat myself, I eat something truly delicious and homemade by someone who loves their craft, instead of packaged food that may contain chemicals."

Veg out!

"Fill your salad bowl with a little bit of every vegetable you have in your kitchen. You get tons of flavor for few calories."

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/healthy-weight-loss-success-stories