Huntsville, AL – This may come as a surprise, but public consciousness often does not have a solid grasp on what is involved in the process of weight loss surgery. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. Most people just have busy lives, or don’t think about it because they are just not personally invested in the subject matter. But there are situations where you need to start caring. Maybe your health is taking a toll, or a loved one just broke the news that they are getting the surgery. Suddenly, you are trying to figure out what it is, how much of it is a shortcut ,and if there is even a method to the madness of weight loss surgery.
But the biggest question is “how do I keep the weight off? “
This is the question that people drop billions of dollars on ever since weight management became a cornerstone in advertising. It is the question that haunts people who have any problem with weight management and it is why people who sell fake cure-alls get rich. It is a question that is loaded with hopes and dreams that wind up with varying degrees of success and failure. So it makes sense that this would be something worth examining.
That is why we are going to provide the answer to the ultimate weight loss question. “How do I lose weight and keep it off?”
The Psychology Behind Motivation
Extrinsic Motivation
What is interesting behind the idea of weight loss, or meeting a goal entirely, a lot of people assume that it has to do with a black and white form of discipline. There tends to be this perverse assumption that ” if you are not losing weight, you are undisciplined and therefore you should feel bad. ” It is sort of a “one size fits all” ideology that feeds into the notion that weight loss surgery is a shortcut. That is not only lazy thinking , but it is only the wrong type of psychology to motivate someone permanently.
The example I stated above is a form of extrinsic motivation. The term, in its most raw definition means that a person is adjusting their behavior to please or avoid shame from an environmental perspective. If you are getting weight loss surgery to avoid getting made fun of, then it is extrinsic motivation. If you are losing weight to become more attractive to a partner, that too, is extrinsic motivation. You are essentially acting to avoid punishment or to gain a reward.
On its own, it sounds like that is a reasonable thing to do. You want the reward or to avoid a punishment, so you act to get that taken care of. The problem is that extrinsic motivation is like a steroid. It is super effective but only for a short while. Just like any high that can come from a steroid it works too well the first time, but unless you plan on raising the dosage, you are going to get used to it pretty fast. This often leads to people giving up after a while. Because what is the point when you are used to the stakes, or when you realize you can never please those people?
Intrinsic Motivation
There is another type of motivation that does the job better. And the great thing about it, is that it more responsible for making the results of weight loss surgery, or any other type of weight loss, last. Intrinsic motivation is the kind of motivation that is found from within. Usually, it comes from a place where the person motivated into doing a task because they find something enjoyable in it. No one likes being miserable. And if it looks like they do, then they are clearly getting something out of it.
When the steps before and after weight loss surgery is found to be internally rewarding to the person going through it, there is a stronger chance that the person is motivated to keep going. It is why athletes love to push beyond their own physical boundaries and it is why some people who go through weight loss surgery manage to keep the weight off. They are not feeling pressure from outside sources. Instead, they are willing to do these things for their own sake. They find it meaningful, challenging, and important to them.
Conclusion
That is how it works. That is how you keep weight off after weight loss surgery, and that is how weight loss, as a long term goal, can be accomplished. Weight loss surgery, whether it is a main factor in a person’s journey or not, does not make or break the permanency of the results. It is just a tool, like anything else, against chronic obesity from a medical perspective. But if you want to keep weight off, all you have to do is to find what makes you feel adequately challenged and fulfilled about the journey. The rest of it will fall into place.
If you want to know more about weight loss surgery in Huntsville, AL feel free to visit us at www.alabariatrics.com