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People communicate to us all of the time without ever saying a word. Learning how to read body language is a fun and rewarding process. This is not brain science – its eyes, ears, nose and lots of other interesting pieces science.

Reading body language is relative to weight loss in the sense that as you become more in tune with your body –and that includes the ability to read the body language of others – you become more ‘body aware’.

And that is important in weight loss. The more in tune you become with the physical being, the more respect that you will have for the body.

First let’s look at some common communications people make without ever saying a word.

But keep in mind as you review the list, it is not always about what they are doing but how they transitioned from one thing to another. I may have my arms crossed because I am cold not because you are making me clamp up.
But if I were standing in an open posture and you asked me something private and I immediately (almost subconsciously) folded up my arms – that’s a sure sign that I am not interested in revealing anything.

Here are some others:

• Touching the ear

. This typically means I want to hear more of what you are saying or that I want you to clarify things further. So keep going.

• Wringing hands

. This is my subconscious telling you that I want nothing to do it – or that it is not my responsibility. When someone does this, they are telling you that you are talking to the wrong person about this subject.

• Scratching the head

. This typically means that you are perplexing the person. Not that they are interested in hearing more (like touching the ear) but that you are confusing them and on the verge of annoying them; or, that you are simply wasting their time.

• Rubbing the neck

. Ever hear the saying that ‘you are getting under my collar?’. That is it. You are annoying them and they are trying to warn that a more expressive communication could be coming your way if you do not cease and desist.

• Hand over mouth

. Now they are communicating that they physically have to stop themselves from saying something. Sometimes it is out of politeness but many times it is out of guilt. They may be wanting to tell you something or reveal something but consciously they are restraining themselves from opening up. Often, by asking open ended questions at this stage, you can get them to let it go.

• Touching of the nose

. This is a dead giveaway of either something being untrue or something that the person is extremely uncomfortable talking about. Watch game show or talk show hosts – early in the show they typically state ‘we have a great show for you today’. Notice how often they inadvertently touch their nose when saying it – typically, that it is at a time when they do not feel the show will be up to par.

• Fiddling with hair

. This is a sign that the person is confused on the subject or that you are talking about things beyond their mental grasp or desired intellect.

• Chewing nails or picking at skin

. Like fiddling with hair, this is a sign of someone being uncomfortable. Either it is a nervous topic, something they feel inferior about or just something that has them so uninterested that they are worrying about something else entirely.

• Steepling

. This is when a person places their hands together by only touching the tips of fingers on the one hand directly on the edges of the tips of the other hand, thereby forming a ‘steeple’. This is a sign of superiority or that they feel that they have you in a corner. You cannot do this without being comfortable so people are only doing it when they are extremely confident in their stance on the topic at hand.

• Blinking, or any change in routine of their eye patterns

. This is a clear sign of deception or of someone addressing a topic that makes them very uncomfortable. The old saying: ‘he’s a blinking liar’ is one steeped in awareness to this non-verbal cue.

I hope that these body language insights prove helpful to you. And more importantly, I hope that you find success on your weight loss journey.

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