Different psychological strategies that

can help people stick to a diet/exercise

plan

Research Proposal
Health Psychology
 Topic: Different psychological strategies that can help people stick to a diet/exercise plan.

Why this Topic/Problem Statement

/Problem Statement:

Mal-nutrition lies at the heart of modern health related problems including but not limited to

Obesity and Cardiac diseases. A higher percentage of patients simply lack a well-balanced dietary

plan. While a certain number of people do realize this need but are not able to stick to the plan.

Therefore, I wish to explore the effectivity of certain strategies in providing a coping mechanism to

continue with dietary programs. [CITATION Cle16 \l 1033 ]

Previously consulted work:

Sticking to a diet plan or even an exercise regimen requires a strong commitment. One of the

reasons we see a significant number of fitness-club dropouts is due to a lack of resolve. Essentially

there are two categorized methods to effectively manage a diet plan; one relies on studying the

behavioralbehavioral patterns of the person and their linkages to the person’s diet plan. After a

rigorous study of all the variables the patient is advised a diet plan that would enable the person to

effectively loose. While this plan helps in introducing healthier dietary options however, it does not

necessarily ensure that the person is suddenly going to adhere to the diet plan. Which leads to a

speculation that there needs to be a minimum amount of resolve to continue with a routine in-order

to reap the benefits entailed by a dietary restriction. This creates the need for the second and more

common psychological strategy; cognitive restructuring. [ CITATION Soe14 \l 1033 ]

As prior mentioned that people usually lack resolve in committing to a routine and that is because

they think that they will not be able to “make it” through the rigorous process. This approach targets

the person psychological understanding of themselves. People who generally have a problem with

their outlook and fairly dismissive of themselves demonstrate higher percentages of vulnerability

towards eating disorders.

Hence, in these situations the need a dietary plan would not be required because these people might

be eating out of stress or depression. Working on self-confidence in these scenarios would empower

the patients to forsake unhealthy dietary options. Furthermore, some patients with compulsive

overeating disorders can also be catered-to using this strategy. Usually, people find it hard to stick

to a plan because they believe that they do not have the resolve to power-through this exercise;

essentially a case of lower self-opinion. [ CITATION Adr11 \l 1033 ]

Hence, even in this scenario helping people believe that they have what it takes to overcome obesity

and that they can turn their lives around is an effective cognitive restructuring strategy. In

conclusion, dietary plans can be proposed so as to replace bad dietary choices but they require a

strong will to continue. Working on person’s self-confidence can directly boost their resolve

thereby, empowering them to make healthy dietary choices.

Mode of Presentation: A presentation will be presented to demonstrate different situations under

which people make unhealthy dietary choices. Furthermore, it will also explore different

psychological strategies in addressing these problems, how they identify different root causes and

the positive outcomes of these strategies through a research paper.

References
Adriaanse, M. A., Vinkers, C. D., De Ridder, D. T., Hox, J. J., & De Wit, J. B. (2011, February).
Do implementation intentions help to eat a healthy diet? A systematic review and meta-
analysis of the empirical evidence. Appetite, 56(1), 183-193.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.10.012

Clinic, C. a. (2016). The PSychology of Eating. Retrieved from Clevel and CLinic:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/10681-the-psychology-of-eating

Soeliman, F. A., & Azadbakht, L. (2014, March). Weight loss maintenance: A review on dietary
related strategies. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 19(2), 268-275. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4061651/

through a research paper.