Overweight"It is Destroying Your Self-Esteem?" Most overweight individuals are aware of the health risks that their increased weight can lead too, but many are unaware of the equally damaging impact being overweight has on self-esteem. Self-esteem is the mental image or belief that you have about yourself that impacts on how you feel about yourself, your confidence, your relationships and other aspects of your life. I'm not condescending you or suggesting you don't know how you feel, but without experiencing the direct comparison of being thin, you have no perspective, I know I don't. Many people that are overweight have significantly lower self-esteem and are less likely to become involved in social situations, try new activities or feel comfortable in new situations. There are several reasons for this negative effect on self-esteem with regards to obesity. If you think about the negative stereotypes that are associated with overweight individuals you most likely be able to come up with a list of adjectives that are often used to describe overweight individuals. This list usually includes words like lazy, undisciplined, isolated, uncaring, unhealthy, unmotivated, and possibly even more hurtful and negative descriptions. If you ask people to list the positive words associated with obesity they often respond with happy or jolly, which again is a stereotype that is simply not true for most obese individuals. Even if obese individuals do not directly hear these words they may have the self-concept that the words apply to them. Many overweight and obese people fear going to a clothing store or buying food at the grocery. They believe that people are watching them or commenting on their physical appearance. This constant focus on negativity only results in lowering the individual’s self-esteem even farther. The negative stereotypes of obese people are described in the media, in the movies, on TV and in magazines and other materials. It is a cultural stereotype that thin is good and heavy is bad, regardless of the individual. Even if the overweight adult has a good sense of self-esteem they will be constantly exposed to these negative concepts and may start to question their own beliefs. This can be particularly hard if the individual is trying traditional methods of weight loss and nothing seems to work. They may begin to lose confidence in their ability to change, and may become despondent and very negative. For obese children this questioning of their self-worth may start at a very early age before they have developed the resiliency necessary to stay positive. They may be teased by peers at school, and may start to isolate themselves from others at a very early age. This can be very problematic and can have a long-term impact on the child as he or she grows up, even if they loose weight. If people are continually avoiding looking at themselves, hiding away in their homes and staying away from events and activities and dressing in clothing designed to hide their bodies they will very quickly begin to have a negative sense of self-esteem. They no longer value themselves, and this will lead to an increasing inability to see any positive changes or good. A poor sense of self-esteem will lead to fear of failure and rejection, and may cause the individual to pull away from relationships or refuse the try to advance in their careers or other outside activities. Being obese has a negative impact on your sense of self-esteem, and this impacts all areas of your life including your social life, relationships, and career. Staying positive is difficult when negative images and traits are constantly being shown and joked about. The key to changing this negative cycle of self-esteem is to start to look for positives, and to develop a workable plan for change. Its so important you do this. Have a goal and create a strategy to achieve it, record those goals and strategies on paper and then get to work, referring to them frequently. I mentioned earlier about the #1 best-selling weight loss book on Internet of ll time a while a go. I've gotten further into it and this guy, Tom Venuto, really knows his stuff. Anyone with the desire to lose pounds should give it a thorough reading, probably close to best I've read. Burn the Fat. Feed the Muscle - take a look, get his free course. I'll try and give you a full review once I've gotten through the book and had time to think about it.
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