“I hate looking at myself in the mirror. What to do?”, psychologist responds –

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I read on social media about the ultimate cure for obesity. I have been waiting for this for many years and I was fascinated. Can you tell me if this information is true? It’s my dream to stop chasing a diet that works for me. I’ve done the one for the astronauts, without carbohydrates, only with carbohydrates, for the moon, for USP… None of them worked because I try to solve everything with food: personal and professional problems, sadness and even joy. I’m used to being an accordionist, but I’ve never been this complex and I hate looking at myself in the mirror. Ivete*, 28 years old, 1.52 meters tall, 75 kg.

“Obesity has no cure. only treatment, Ivete. It consists of changing a set of attitudes that, in order to determine a healthy lifestyle and conducive to weight loss, must be present in your daily life. Don’t forget: a person who has difficulty losing weight and finally manages to reach the dreamed weight will not be rid of this disease forever. She will only be thin as long as she makes good food choices, respects meal times, manages her portions, avoids excess sweets and practices regular physical activity.

Read more: Diet + exercise: the ideal combo to lose weight and gain health

The secret to behaving this way: repeat these attitudes until they become a habit. If you are persistent, you will start to eat only what you like and always sparingly, in addition to feeling pleasure in exercising. Another issue to be addressed: your tendency to seek emotional relief in food. She can even soften anxiety and sadness, but it’s for a short time – the feeling of guilt that comes soon after exacerbates her bad relationship with food even more. Try not to do this to your body and your self-esteem anymore. If you can’t overcome this impulse, include the follow-up of a psychologist in your project to lose weight and stay thin”.

*Name changed to preserve the identity of the reader