Nowadays we come across the advertisements of weight gain or weight loss in newspapers, magazines, Television, Internet etc. The advertisements often have the captions, gain or lose a specific number of KGs in specified duration of time, along with photographs of individuals, that point the differences between the before and after figures of the individuals. They are indeed attractive and with a thought of, ‘if they can do so, why not me?’ many people visit that gymnasium or the weight loss centre. The weight loss programme begins under the guidance of expert dietician and a yoga instructor. The initial few days seem to be fine and later something seems to be upsetting. Many excuses to avoid exercise crop up in the minds, dieting do’s and don’ts are felt meaningless and a temptation to overcome dieting develops in the mind and when such food is consumed, a guilt manifests and the most bothering feel is that of the pointer of the weighing balance that does not move at all, maintaining the earlier weight! Why does this happen? We seem many huge and bulky people turning slim and trim in front of us. But I do not understand what goes wrong in my case? What could be the reason behind this? Psychology says that when the mind becomes restless, its side effects are seen on the physique. These side effects include the weight loss or weight gain too. This means, it should be noted that weight gain is associated with mental health. Here is our pitfall; we lie to ourselves saying to myself, ‘I am very happy. Grief or sorrow in life? It is impossible. I am not at all restless mentally. Or life is bound to have some ups and downs and I have accepted it.’ These thoughts of yours resist in the gain or loss of weight. Do you find it, difficult to believe? Stresses, of all types, personal, stress in relations, in finance, at work between a couple affect the mental health of an individual. And it directly affects our health. Today we have tremendous information on weight loss. But still why has weight gain has become a universal problem? Why is the number of obese men and women increasing in the world? The metal restlessness is the root cause behind this. If we can understand this restlessness through a counselor, we can certainly get rid of the evil cycle of weight gain.
Many times, I am not aware that I also have an emotional disturbance. Since childhood, I carry all the burden of the unwanted events stored in my mind. This burden increases to such an extent that I cannot bear its weight and its effects are seen on the body. The mental restlessness can be traced by physically being obese or being under weight, or other problems associated with obesity like blood pressure, diabetes, skin diseases, pain in the different parts of the body etc. Even the medical science has accepted the fact that root cause of the occurrence of certain diseases that have no cure today or reoccurrence of certain curable diseases is associated with the mental health. A healthy body is a healthy mind. Hence inspite of visiting several gymnasiums and weight loss centres, if the body remains unaffected and tends to show no change, seek the help of a counselor or psychotherapist. A counselor and psychotherapist can trace if anything that obstructs in our progress has settled down deep in the mind. So let us treat ourselves for mental restless or stress and lead a happy, healthy and prosperous life.
Vaishali Vyas
Psychotherapist
Disha Psychological Counselling Centre