What Your Personality Says About Your Weight

Whether you’re the life of the party, a bookworm, or a night owl, your personality plays a surprisingly large role in your ability to slim down. Follow this guide to discover your personality type and use your own characteristics to lose weight and keep it off for good. If you’re self-centered… Being a little stuck on yourself may not be such a bad thing when trying to lose weight. “Self-centered people tend to consider their own interests, which could lead them to better conserve their energy and have more willpower to make healthy choices,” says says Heidi Hanna, PhD, performance coach and author of The Sharp Solution: A Brain-Based Approach for Optimal Performance. People-pleasers, on the other hand, may get overly stressed about helping everyone else and find themselves depleted at the end of the day. This often triggers poor food choices, says Hanna. Instead, practice being more “selfish” in asking for what you want and sticking to it without feeling guilty. Meet friends after your workout instead of canceling your exercise plans, or ask them to join you. If you’re the life of the party… Outgoing people tend to allow stress to accumulate to the point that’s known as “amygdala hijack,” says Hanna. This is where we utilize the more basic, primitive part of our brain versus our more human pre-frontal cortex. “The latter allows us to consider our longer-term goals and make healthier choices,” says Hanna. This pleasure-based eating has been shown to trigger an addictive response that often leads to overeating high-calorie, high-fat comfort foods. “If you enjoy being the center of attention, try putting yourself in social situations that don’t involve food,” suggests suggests Art Markman, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas. Health.com: 14 Ways to Cut Portions Without Feeling Hungry If you’re impulsive… In a famous 1972 study, scientists offered young children a choice between a single marshmallow immediately or, if they could wait 15 minutes, two marshmallows. Those who waited went onto experience more success and higher SAT scores later on in