Are You "Too Happy" to Lose Weight?

Could your weight loss effort be stalled because you're too happy? That's part of the results of a recent study done by a group of Japanese investigators recently published in the journal, Biopsychosocial Medicine. As part of a 6-month weight loss study, about 100 patients filled out personality surveys, in addition to receiving nutrition, exercise, and behavior instruction for weight loss.

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The interesting thing here is not the weight loss results from the program, but what "personality type" had the best and worst rate of weight loss. So, what did they find?

People who had a more happy go lucky, "anything goes" kind of temperament actually lost less weight, compared to the more serious-minded group. One interpretation is that the more laidback attitude relates to less disciplined "child" traits, in contrast to those who were more focused and goal-oriented, reflected in more "adult" personality traits.

While this might be a preliminary finding, without a thorough explanation, I think we can glean a bit of practical information from this study. Pick a weight control program, stay committed, learn from your mistakes,, and view this as a total lifestyle permanent change, not "let me just give it a try and see what happens". That will set you up for success!

Do you take your lifestyle changes seriously? Has that worked for you?