Optimism could slow down weight loss

The results of the study support the fact that personality of an individual plays a major role in his/her ability to lose weight.

Some negative push might lead them to worry more about their health and appearance, thus resulting in a lighter body.

A team led by Hitomi Saito of Doshisha University in Japan studied the psychological profiles of 101 obese men and women who were enrolled for a weight loss program at the Kansai Medical University Hospital Obesity Clinic, Japan.

The program included sessions of counseling, nutrition and exercise therapy for a period of six months. All the patients were asked to fill in psychological questionnaires designed to identify their psychosocial characteristics and personality types before and after the six-month course.

Happy and fat patients less likely to reduce weight
The results, reported in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine, suggested that patients with a happy-go-lucky attitude at the start of the counseling sessions were less likely to succeed in the slimming programs.

These patients were termed as having "free child" (FC) ego state which is related with optimism and assertiveness which could slow down the weight loss program. Whereas a more cautious "adult" or "A" ego state is considered to be more responsible towards making weight loss programs a success.

"The positive aspects of the FC ego state involve controlling negative emotion and are related to the ability to look on the bright side and do things in one's own style, while the negative aspects are not caring about disease and giving in to temptation because of optimism, as well as instinctive and impulsive behaviors," researchers said.

On the other hand, patients who were able to improve their self-awareness through counseling were more likely to lose weight than others who did not. The researchers found that optimism and self-orientation characteristics improved for most of the patients during the six-month course.

But it did not have any relation with weight loss because an improvement in the self-awareness of such patients is only associated with reducing their psychological stress.

However, the researchers maintained, "It is important to enhance patients' self-effectiveness and self-control in order to reduce psychological stress and to maintain the weight loss."

Maintaining an ideal weight could prevent complications
Maintaining an ideal weight can help one control the levels of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar, and it might also help in the prevention weight-related diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis, say experts.

Following steps could be taken towards maintaining an ideal:

Consume low-calorie foods

Drink water instead of sugary drinks

Be physically active