mwlt_therapist
Armando Gonzalez, MA, MFTI # 65016 (916) 743-4748
www.armandogonzalez.org
[email protected]
A message from Armando:
Having my own struggles with weight throughout my life has allowed me to know, first hand, just how intense and emotional the weight loss process can be. As we lose the weight we don’t just shed the weight, we also shed pieces of our identity that we held onto as a result of living life overweight. When we were overweight we lacked confidence, self-esteem, and hardly knew how to love for ourselves--and we expect that when we lose the weight we will magically gain all these areas where we suffered deficits. The unfortunate reality is that even after drastic weight loss those areas of our life are not always quick to change.
People may treat us differently, we may feel more confident at times, but ultimately our transformations are often limited to our physical appearance. It is my belief that unless we address the deeper emotional elements associated with our history of being overweight then we might only be destined to eventually gain the weight back and be left back at square one.
Research shows that the 95% of people who lose a significant amount of weight re-gain the weight back within 5 years. While this information sadness me to hear it also shows me that while our strategies to lose weight might be successful, the success is only short term. Bottom line, we must change the way we think about the weight loss process.
We must consider the emotional elements of weight loss transformations before, during, and after the weight loss process in order to create the sort of healing we need to keep the weight off and, more importantly, live happy and fulfilling lives.
During the first year of my Masters program at Alliant International University I became interested in doing a research study on the psychological effects of Major Weight Loss using past contestants of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” This research study was the first of it’s kind involving past contestants of the popular television show. Per the study, I was able to interview 5 former contestants (a married couple, mother & daughter, and a middle-aged male) about their weight loss experiences.
My goal for the interviews was to examine the psychological process that occurs when someone loses a lot of weight. I was curious about what made some people more successful at keeping the weight off then others. Was there a magic ingredient? Something they were doing differently then the other 95% of the nation that ultimately gained the weight back?
What I found was that the people who were most successful at keeping the weight off:
• had the strongest motivation to create a permanent lifestyle change
• were willing to look within themselves and address the emotional components that played a role in their initial struggles with weight and began the process of healing from those old wounds during and after their weight loss transformation
• created new supportive systems that helped support their weight loss and embraced their new lifestyle
• were actively engaged in some form of paying it forward now—whether they were the health expert to their family/ friends or coaches and trainers
ultimately they were committed to learning how to love themselves
By a quick glance at these common factors of successful weight loss transformations we can see that these people transformed more than just their bodies. They transformed their lives--mind, body and spirit.
As a Marriage & Family Therapist Intern I am well equipped to help address these components in therapy. My goal was to create a roadmap for your weight loss process. The beauty of this roadmap is that you can pick it up at the beginning, middle, or end of your weight loss. No matter where you start you will likely find greater success simply by using the map.
Through doing this work I have had a chance to take a look around the local area and I can tell you this--no other therapist, psychologist, organization or group is taking this much of an in-depth emotional approach to the weight loss process. Most colleagues I come across are fascinated by the research and invigorated about learning how to put this model in motion. They know what we all know. That what we had been doing to address our struggles was only working temporarily, and that a new strategy is needed.
I invite you now to become a part of this new strategy, this new movement. The movement towards a healthier and happier you. From the inside out.
