Successful Weight Loss May Change the Brain
September 28th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Headline
As a growing number of people tackled the challenges of losing weight and developing healthier lifestyles, those in the mental health professions and diverse medical fields are paying rapt attention to the ways in which people are able to generate self-control and find inner motivation. Recently, a study at Brown Medical School examined the link between successful weight loss and brain activity, scanning participants who were shown high and low calorie foods as part of healthy weight, overweight, and successful weight loss groups. Those participants who had shed pounds and kept them off showed an increase in areas of the brain associated with complex tasks and control, suggesting to researchers that physical help for those overcoming addictions and compulsive behaviors may become more advanced in the future.
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ugghh. Losing weight and keeping it off has always been so hard for me! I wish that there was a way for the brain to change in its way of thinking about food once the weight is gone, but it is like I can lose the weight and do so well for a while and then the compulsion to eat will take back over and I end up going through the same dieting motions over and over again. Nothing ever feels permanent. But maybe once I do achieve that permanence I will get those control issues in my brain too and will learn how to keep the weight off for good!
Losing weight has given me a lot of confidence and am now able to do a lot of things that I was previously unable to. This really has boosted by confidence levels and am now a totally new person.
Interesting!!! Abstinence is a good thing after all. For someone like me who lost 30 pounds in a year, I would say the once in a while indulgence is as therapeutic as abstinence!!