Successful weight loss is far more complex than simply eating right and exercising. For many people, food-related emotional issues are a massive barrier to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.
Functional Imagery Training (FIT) is a method rooted in several compelling bodies of research that seeks to address the underlying causes of emotionally charged cravings, overeating, and behaviors. It’s used to address a range of behaviors, including addiction to food.
To put it simply: FIT works to retrain habits of mental imagery, helping people break patterns of food addiction and cravings. One impressive study found participants in a six-month timeframe who used FIT lost nine pounds more than those who didn’t, with no additional diet or lifestyle guidance or recommendations.
what is functional imagery training (fit)?
FIT is an approach to behavior change based on two decades of research that encompasses three techniques into one unique intervention: mental imagery, motivational interviewing, and mental contrasting.
According to Dr. Linda Solbrig, the primary developer of FIT in the context of weight management, her intervention works in the following way when it comes to helping patients manage their weight:
“FIT is…designed to promote sustained behaviour change and address cravings. It trains the habitual use of affective, goal-directed mental imagery of personal incentives, using imagery to plan behaviours, anticipate obstacles, and mentally try out solutions from previous successes. Participants are taught to update their imagery from their experience, and to generalise their imagery skills to new goals.”[1]
