How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

Following on from the recent discoveries that 5 out of 6 genetic variants found in obese individuals are psychological as opposed to physical, Ukmedix News decided to fire few questions at Sebastian Bailey, best-selling author of The Mind Gym series of books which thousands of people say have been indispensable in helping them to reach their personal and professional targets.

Stuart Stevens: OK, so if I am obese, love overeating, hate exercise and have never been able to lose weight despite numerous attempts what are you going to tell me that I don't know already?

Sebastian Bailey: Something you don’t know already?  How about Ashgabat is the capital of Turkmenistan.  No, seriously.  There’s an old joke that goes: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?  Only one, but the lightbulb has to want to change.  Unless there’s the motivation to change, you’re very unlikely to lose weight.  So my advice would be either get happy with being overweight or get motivated.  New research suggests that self-control is like a muscle – it gets tired if we try to do to much too quickly, so to keep motivated gradual change is better than an all out purge.  Secondly, it’s all about small steps.  Think about how you can build exercise, portion control and measuring progress into what you do as a matter of course, but don’t set outrageous goals as they don’t do much to motivate.  A big part of motivation is believing that the effort you put in will be worth the reward you receive.  So create goals you feel are achievable and rewards that you want when you get there.

Stuart Stevens: Is it true that verbal abuse can actually motivate people to lose weight?

Sebastian Bailey: For some people it can help motivate, but it doesn’t do much for self-esteem.  On the whole rewards work better than punishment as I’ve said above.  If you’re not a rewards type of person you can use something you don’t like as a motivator.  One person I know wrote a cheque for £200 for an organization she really really despised.  She put the cheque in an addressed envelope, gave it to a friend and said that if she didn’t lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks, her friend should post it.  With the idea of lots of cash going to an organization she hated, she was very very motivated (and there was no need to send the cheque).

Stuart Stevens: What is the best approach for telling your wife/girlfriend or husband/boyfriend that they need to lose weight?

Sebastian Bailey: Ask someone else to do it.  Another bad psychologist joke.  There are some novel approaches - a friend of mine left pictures of the world’s heaviest man on her fridge to suggest to her husband that he should cut out his famous triple decker fish finger sandwiches.  I would suggest that the best way would not be to tell someone they are overweight, but instead talk about how great they would look if they were a little slimmer.  It’s also not about linking it to who the person is – ie you are a fat person.  Instead it’s about framing the conversation more optimistically – 'you’d look great if you were a few pounds lighter.'

Stuart Stevens: Can a person who has never been overweight really understand what an overweight person suffers? Have you ever been overweight?

Sebastian Bailey: It’s easy to feel marginalized if you are overweight.  Finding social support – that is other people who are in a similar position who you can take action with is a really good way to share experiences and also get motivated to act.  My BMI puts me on the cusp of healthy and overweight.

Stuart Stevens: Do you have any plans to come up with specialised workouts for overweight and obese people?

Sebastian Bailey: Our 3 books all by The Mind Gym deal with different aspects of losing weight.  The Mind Gym: Wake your mind up deals with procrastination, and The Mind Gym: Relationships deals with self-regulation. So take your pick. You can find our more here: http://www.themindgym.com/books and they are all available through Amazon.