The vast majority of Americans are trying to lose weight for health, not looks, despite what ads for products promising that “bikini body” might be targeting. A recent Mayo Clinic Diet survey called the “Diet Mindset Assessment” of more than 200,000 people in the United States revealed that people aren’t focusing on their appearance as their main reason for trying to lose excess body fat. Instead, by a long shot, people are trying to support their wellness.
We Want to Lose Weight for Health
According to the survey, which was compiled and reviewed by a digital health platform powering many top weight loss bands worldwide, the main thing Americans are pursuing when they lose weight is health.
This evidence flies in the face of all the ads for beauty-focused fat burning, or even all the comments from friends and co-workers about how you don’t need to change anything because you look great as you are. According to this survey, it’s clear that the way you look isn’t the reason you’re making the changes.
It’s Not About Looks
The survey showed that about 83 percent of Americans are trying to lose weight for health more than any other reason. That’s a massive majority. That said, it aligns well with a post-pandemic global trend toward wellness and well-being.
Trying to lose weight for health surpassed doing so for looks and physical appearance by five times. This finding is consistent with other claims that participants made throughout the survey, saying that they were most interested in achieving a healthy body as opposed to external factors. Since this same motivation appeared consistently throughout the survey, it shows that it is likely to be a true driver for dieters, instead of one that they are claiming out of an effort to sound less vain.
Among the survey participants, more than 55 percent had already dieted a minimum of six previous times in their lives. This shows that Americans are not only trying to lose weight for health, but they are also seeking a practical and sustainable solution to their weight management.
Sustainable Weight Loss for Health Tips
If your goal is weight loss for health, then you’ll want to have helpful and sustainable tips on your side. These won’t be strategies for fast fat burning, empty promises or short-term efforts. Instead, they’re methods you can build up and customize over time, letting you make your way into a healthy body mass range and keep it there for years to come.
- Eat healthfully overall – No diet is perfect, so don’t expect yours to be. However, overall, try to keep what you eat on an average day within a proper calorie range. Control your carbohydrate consumption and focus on whole foods over highly processed ones. Feel free to feast on Thanksgiving, but on the average weekday, remind yourself that moderation is key.
- Be active – If you love the gym, great! If you don’t, no problem. Try to be active in some way, most days of the week. This can include going for a brisk walk, run, cycling, playing a sport, doing yoga, or many other things. Get up and move around. It makes a difference, particularly in keeping lost weight from coming back.
- Support your start – Setting new habits can be challenging. Don’t hesitate to track down the best diet pills that work to help you overcome those initial obstacles. Just remind yourself that they don’t cause your weight loss for health, they support you as you do it for yourself.
- Get the sleep you need – Sleep is critical to your wellness and in your effort to lose weight for health. Make a priority of getting the sleep you need on a regular basis. Ease out of the mindset that you can stay up later or get up earlier because something else has a higher priority.
