I 'gaslit myself' into dropping 40 pounds... here's how you can use the medically-approved hack to lose weight
- Content creator Leaha Ureel shared her unusual weight loss trick - which worked
- She tricked herself into thinking she was already skinny. developing new habits
- READ MORE: I discovered the secret to weight loss without drugs
The best lies are wrapped around a core of truth - but one woman's web of deception was the trick to help her lose weight.
In a now-viral TikTok, Leaha Ureel revealed her massive weight loss was mind over matter - and she 'gaslit' herself into losing 40 pounds by 'pretending she's already skinny.'
'I studied habits backed by research by obesity experts about the subconscious behaviors of thin verses obese people,' the Michigan woman explained.
Leaha said she started incorporating these habits into her daily life.
'These habits range from as small as twitching, to developing a full blown Doctor Pepper caffeine addiction,' she added.
According to Leaha, the thing that shocked her was 'learning that the body will convince the mind that maybe the hobbies you like are active hobbies.'
She added you can build productive habits like running errands or walking your dog - 'just to keep you in a place that it wants you to be in.'
Leaha continued: 'So when skinny people might be trying to gain weight by eating in a surplus, their body is trying to compensate for that by telling them to do these active things.'
In a now-viral TikTok , Leaha Ureel revealed her massive weight loss was mind over matter - and she 'gaslit' herself into losing 40 pounds by 'pretending she's already skinny'
The TikTok user was astounded to find she was able to convince herself she's a 'clean freak' now, which forces her to spend a couple of hours a week cleaning her entire house.
'It's really fake it 'til you make it,' she quipped, adding in the caption she also 'drastically' changed her diet.
While the method may sound questionable, Dr. Meghan Garcia-Webb, an obesity expert at Weight Medicine MD, says psychological exercises such as 'gaslighting' yourself can actually be effective.
The method taps into the psychological principle of acting like the person you want to become, which encourages your brain to believe it.
'The term ‘gaslighting’ has negative connotations but - overall - I agree this is possible,' Dr. Garcia-Webb, who also hosts the YouTube series Weight Medicine with Dr. Meghan MD, told The New York Post.
'What she is talking about is a concept we discuss in coaching all the time, which is adopting the mindset of someone who already has the desired result and essentially reverse engineering it,' Dr. Garcia-Webb added.
'It’s purposefully creating an identity shift,' she explained.
It's not the first time a medical professional has suggested people think themselves thin.
According to Leaha, the thing that shocked her was 'learning that the body will convince the mind that maybe the hobbies you like are active hobbies'
In 2019, a weight loss psychologist created an appetite pendulum - which can help you to recognize how much food your body actually needs, in order to lose weigh without dieting.
Dr Helen McCarthy, based in Bristol, told DailyMail.com people are trained to eat at certain times, rather than when we're hungry and we overeat when we don't need to.
In her book How To Retrain Your Appetite, the author wrote that the appetite pendulum starts at 0 when your hunger is neutral and swings into minus when you're hungry and plus when you start to eat.
She believes that you shouldn't start eating until your hunger gets to minus 3, which signifies when you're 'definitely hungry' and you should stop when you are 'just full' at plus 3.
In her book she reveals that by eating according to hunger and recognizing when we're full, it will prevent overeating, and allow you to enjoy any food you fancy without gaining weight - even if it's a piece of cake.
