10 Sep Why we Need to Focus on Gain, Not Loss
When I first trained as a naturopathic nutritionist I helped a friend lose so much weight that we calculated it had increased her life expectancy by around 9 years which was incredible. What a huge gain for such a great loss!
100 days a year
I worked out that 9 years equates to 3,287 days – including leap years – so based on her age – 50 – and the average female life expectancy – 83 – if she hadn’t lost the weight and altered her lifestyle she would have lost the equivalent of 100 days a year for 33 years, or be more likely to die at age 74, or younger which is hard-hitting.
The reason for this somewhat strange calculation is that I recently re-discovered some information about human nature whereby we are known to take more risks to avoid loss than achieve gains, and it got me thinking about weight loss as a whole.
Loss vs gains
According to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who collaborated to present the groundbreaking research Prospect Theory, in which they discovered that the way things are presented makes a huge difference in the way we behave. The general concept is that if two choices are put before an individual, both equal, with one presented in terms of potential gains and the other in terms of possible losses, the former option will be chosen.
This got me thinking about the concept of weight loss and whether we would be better off focusing purely on the positive gains we would get from improving health and losing weight, rather than the negativity of what we need to lose in order to gain. Could that reverse psychology work?
There’s really no loss at all
Everyone who wants to lose weight is terrified of the loss of their favourite foods, drinks, past times, and lifestyle. They fear change and focus only on what they can’t have and rarely on what they will gain, like the equivalent of 100 extra days a year for 33+ years!
And there is so much to gain from the loss of weight that there will be no shortage of positives….
More energy, better skin, improved focus, superior memory, blissful sleep, heightened libido, enriched sex, heightened fertility, enhanced mood, greater freedom, increased longevity, balanced hormones, and more agility, alongside less chance of contracting a chronic and debilitating disease
Human nature
As humans we simply hate loss, it is in our genes to fight against it so we need only to focus on the gains from now on.
I am guilty of focusing on weight loss too. In my book Feeding Good Habits, I talk about increasing weight loss; sadly it is ingrained in us. I do, however, talk a lot about what can be gained too, as I have always understood this to be essential in the ultimate battle.
Feed Good Habits
Kathy Mac
xx
Kathy Mac – author of Feeding Good Habits – 12 weeks to rewire your mind, reset your habits and renew your relationship with food for improved health and sustained weight loss.