If you think that all an obese woman needs to do to lose weight is eat less and exercise more, think again.
According to researchers at Temple University, obese women face several mental barriers when it comes to exercising.
These barriers are almost like phobias for these women.
The top psychological factors were (not necessarily in order):
1. Self-conscious about their appearance…
2. Feeling too heavy to exercise…
3. Fear of injury…
4. Perception of poor health…
5. Having minor aches and pains…
6. Fear of failure…
In a one-year study, the Temple researchers surveyed almost 280 women, both obese and normal weight, to see what reasons stopped them from exercising.
Whether at the beginning of the study or 3 or 12 months after it began, the obese women found these 6 factors stopped them more often than the normal weight women did.
In fact, the psychological barriers reported by the obese women at the start of the study were an excellent predictor of how much they would be exercising at the end of the year.
So are these just excuses?
The researchers didn’t think so. They believe that many obese women have serious psychological problems when it comes to exercise.
I don’t think their finding is all that surprising.
If you’re already uncomfortable with your appearance, you’re naturally going to feel as though you’re drawing more attention to yourself by exercising, especially in sports clothes that reveal more of your body.
The researchers believe that the way to combat this is to devise programs that steer around these barriers.
Walking is probably one of the best ways to start.
No skimpy exercise outfits and you can do it just about anywhere. So you don’t have to be afraid of calling attention to yourself or risking serious injury.
Of course, it would be best if obese women didn’t have these mental barriers. But ignoring the problem or accusing obese women of “making excuses” is naive at best and hurtful at worst. It certainly won’t help them to stay on their exercise programs.
As always, you should see your doctor before starting any new exercise program.
