If You Want to Lose Weight in 2014, Wanting to Look a Celebrity Might Be a Bad Idea

Almost every magazine uses photos of lean pop-stars or ripped actors and covers their diets and physical  metamorphosis. They show before and after photos with a headline like "Lose XX pounds and you can get this look too in just 4 weeks" or "Look like XX in the XX movie." People enjoy it. Like celebrities, they want to create an allure around their body, with the eyes of others glaring at them.  For a typical person who wants to lose a couple pounds, "having that look” is not a good approach.   Yet this is still the look we all want to achieve and we are very disappointed when the "diet" and exercise plans fail us. We really want the celebrity and have followed exactly what the magazine told us to do. We even put their picture on our fridge.

The problem with  magazines is that they promote the outcome - not the output.  They cover the final result of someone's transformation by posting "before and after" photographs.  They  add paragraph about the diet and training they used in the process. This doesn't do any good for the   person who reads the article and is aspires to have a body like a famous celebrity.  Using a fraction of the information from a magazine, the reader sets upon a great quest to create  the same celebrity look. He or she decides to follow the celebrity’s diet and training plan and as such creates a mental picture of the desired look with a title: "This is how I want to look."  Unfortunately, it probably won't happen to him/her. The question is why?

The Output or the Outcome?

In one study, conducted by Lien Pham and Shelley Taylor at the University of California, the researchers asked students to spend a few moments each day visualizing themselves getting a high grade on an important midterm exam that would take place in a few days’ time. 

Group A was asked to imagine how great it would feel to make get a high grade. Group B was asked to imagine the process of revision by visualizing when, where, and how they intended to study.  Group C acted as a control group and students were asked to do no exercises at all and just be themselves.

Which group scored the best grades?  The students who imagined themselves going through the process of studying spent significantly more time revising, and eventually earned higher exam grades.  The research shows that visualizing the process of study proved to be especially effective at reducing exam-related anxiety and helped student’s better plan and manage their workload.   What about the "daydreamers?"  For them, the exercise may have made them feel better about themselves, but it did not help them achieve their goals.  

Why Fantasizing Won't Transform Your Dreams into Reality

When people enjoy positive fantasies, only, they neglect vital information. They feel so motivated and focused on the outcome that they overlook complications and other insights that may appear down the road. People expect their weight loss journey to be short and smooth (like the students in the study who were expecting to get an A from the exam). It doesn't work that wayWeight loss takes time and energy, and requires sacrifices (just like studying). There will be times where you will have to deal with hunger, sore muscles, or feel unmotivated to go to the gym. You have to be prepared.  Visualizing the process of weight loss helps you to better plan and manage the goal, and reduces anxiety (group B in a the study).

Next time, you want to look like a celebrity, instead of posting his/her photo on the fridge, you should imagine going through the process of your transformation  by visualizing where, when, and how you intend to exercise and what you are going to eat.  This approach will help you reduce anxiety and better prepare you achieve your weight loss goals faster.