4. Sabotage by not-well meaning friends, family, co-workers and casual acquaintances.
Especially those who have not managed to lose weight may regard a successful dieter as a weight-gaining time bomb. Often subtle and not so subtle methods will be used to make the dieter overeat, such as asking the dieter if she has been very sick recently or mentioning that a particularly caloric dish won't hurt her. Self-sabotage is also common, especially if the successful dieter is now complimented on his or her appearance. Many clients have told me that they both enjoy and resent the attention they receive when they have lost a lot of weight. A college student made herself gain about 75 pounds after losing that amount because guys who had ignored her the year before when she was fat asked her out on dates.
Losing weight is not as hard as keeping it off. Still, as someone who was called "butter-ball" in second grade, I know it can be done.
Make laughter a priority. For a long time people believed that they needed a reason to laugh. However, the benefits of laughter are so great that laughing for no reason has become a motto of countless people all over the world who participate in laughter clubs. There is even a laughter yoga, which teaches specific laughter exercises. Even if you don’t do laughter yoga, looking at life from a humorous angle allows you to let go of stress quicker and to heal faster.
Even if you have days where you find it difficult to laugh, give yourself permission to smile.
© 2010 Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet: Eat Carbs -- Nature's Own Appetite Suppressant -- to Stop Emotional Overeating and Halt Antidepressant-Associated Weight Gain