Many people want to lose a few pounds, but few people actually do it. What's behind that?
66% of the Dutch would like to lose a few kilos. – source:TNS NIPO
Striking:even women who are satisfied with their body often still wish to weigh three kilos less. And that is not surprising at all, according to health care psychologist Liselotte Visser in the Santé of May 2016. She shared a number of reasons why people still want to lose a few kilos:
- Those three kilos are socially desirable behaviour. You don't say that you have a good body so quickly. We live in a world where we unconsciously expect each other to work on a better, leaner and more beautiful version of ourselves. Preferably every day. By wanting to lose three kilos, you meet exactly that, you are not an outsider and you are not arrogant. Women have a strong unconscious please-behaviour and therefore like to conform to the image of picture perfect. Somehow you do feel that pressure to lose weight and you experience it as something negative, but you don't think it's really important. In any case, not important enough to put your wine in front. In addition, the disappointment of jeans that are too tight is a great outlet for other feelings of irritation or frustration.
- Losing three kilos is easy to oversee. You don't have to change your entire eating schedule. If you drink less wine and snack less for a while, you will lose those three kilos, so you tell yourself. Liselotte:For most women, these pounds aren't important enough to really put in the effort. And so the weight loss does not come from it.
- The three-kilo wish is a kind of stick behind the door. You just fit into your old clothing size, but you also know that you will move up a clothing size if more weight is added. And that is a psychological barrier for many women. Well, that three kilos too much on the scale is not a disaster. And by being aware of it, you prevent even more kilos from being added.
