Weight Loss and Other Musings

Many of us have gone to our physician wanting to lose weight (or they want us to).  In my experience I get support and usually a prescription to push away from the table and start walking.  I must admit that these are not bad ideas but for someone who has real weight to lose it is likely just discouraging and likely to send them to the nearest fast food drive-through after the appointment in frustration and defeat.

For those of us who have about 30 or more pounds to lose it is clear that we need more.  It is not that we all will do well with the same approach - far from it - but that we need someone to help us and support us.  What is little understood is that we need someone to be accountable to.  Accountability is the thing that is most motivating for the individual who really wants to lose.  It cannot be a spouse, coworker, neighbor or anyone that you feel too comfortable with.  The will either be too lenient or to hard on you.  The person to whom you are accountable must be understanding (to make it easier to come back to you when you make a mistake). compassionate and someone who wants to see you succeed.  They must also be willing to be firm.  This is why most programs include some level of accountability either through and part of individual counseling or as part of a support group.

The next thing we need to have is a plan or guideline.   Dieting is not about perfection and any diet that only works if you stick to a rigid structure will ultimately fail because you will never learn how to manage the constant changing situation that is your life.  You must learn how to bend and compensate for the food flood that we are all exposed to.  Your plan must fit into your lifestyle and not push you into completely changing it.  While change is important, long term success will be achieved through maintaining your comfort level and not changing your whole life at one time.  The jumping in and changing everything until you reach your goal is one of the primary reasons that when this goal is reached most people fall back and gain their weight back.