Are You Serious?

[Warren L. Huberman PhD. 227]

Most of the folks that I have seen after weight loss surgery describe some anxiety about weight regain. The effects of weight loss surgery are most robust during the first year after surgery. There are a number of reasons for this fact, including increased motivation, anxiety about eating and the need for significant and immediate behavior change. This first year is often referred to as the “honeymoon phase” because, like new love, it’s all good. Then things begin to change…not overnight, but gradually.

Through time, you notice that you can eat more, either because the physical changes created by the surgery are changing, or perhaps because you’ve learned what you can eat more easily. Of course it is important that you continue to try to maintain the dietary changes your nutritionist and surgeon have recommended, and if you have a gastric band to ensure that it is properly filled. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that a great number of patients stop there. What else can you do?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was some secret formula for keeping weight off, or an easy to follow list of things to do to improve your chances of success? Well, you’re in luck. The National Weight Control Registry (NWCS) has tracked the weight loss of over 5000 people who have kept a significant amount of weight off for over a year. Their membership has lost an average of 66 pounds and kept if off for an average of 5.5 years. If you’re “serious” about losing weight, it would seem that following in the footsteps of these folks would be a wise move. So what are some of the secrets of NWCS members?

1. Exercise Every Day

Numerous studies as well as your own experience have likely taught you that exercise alone isn’t going to be enough for you to lose weight and keep it off. However, cutting calories without incorporating exercise is making your goal of keeping the weight off that much harder. It just makes sense that if you’re performing activities that burn a few hundred calories a day, it would make it easier to stay on track. Case in point, 90% of NWCR members exercise every day on average for an hour. The most popular exercise is walking.

I find that the two greatest obstacles that patients cite for their inability to follow this recommendation are finding the time to exercise and not enjoying exercise. Consider that NWCS members do not have 25 hours in their day, they have the same 24 as we all do…they just make exercise a priority. Similarly, it would be ridiculous to believe that the 5000+ members of the NWCS enjoy exercise more than the average human being; they simply push themselves to do it.

2. Keep track of what you put in your mouth and what you weigh

75% of NWCR members weigh themselves at least once per week. This highlights the need to keep track of your behavior. The problem with the number on the scale is that your weight reflects the consequence of another behavior…eating. Therefore, simply tracking your weight is inadequate. Several studies have demonstrated that self-monitoring (the fancy name for keeping track of what you eat) alone has contributed to weight loss. How? If you know that you’re going to write down everything you eat, you might think twice before eating a candy bar…especially if you’re going to write down the calories in that candy bar. The power of self-monitoring your food intake in particular is that it makes you mindful and aware of your actions and helps keep you in the present moment, which is the only time that you can choose to behave differently. Not in the past or in the future, but right now! You can’t change behavior unless you are in the present moment and fully aware of the choices you are making. Writing down what you eat requires mindfulness and being in the present moment which will help you make better choices.

I find that the two greatest obstacles to self-monitoring are that it is inconvenient or annoying and the belief that “I shouldn’t need to write down what I eat in order to control my behavior.” If you consider obesity to be a chronic condition and writing down what you eat to be a treatment strategy for that condition, you would likely have a difficult time complaining about your treatment to someone who has kidney failure and requires dialysis three times a week for a few hours per visit. Folks who require dialysis don’t have the luxury of complaining that it is time consuming, inconvenient and annoying. Am I being dramatic? Absolutely! Is what I’m saying accurate? Yes. Again, ask yourself if you’re serious about keeping the weight off. If you are, I’m confident that you will agree that keeping track of your food intake in a little booklet or online and getting on a scale once a week is not that big of an inconvenience. As far as the notion that you “shouldn’t need to write it down,” I strongly disagree. Behavior change usually occurs gradually and with great effort. Behavior doesn’t change on its own; it changes when you consistently work to make it change. Therefore, you “should” need to keep track of your behavior in order for it to change. If you’re not actively trying to change your eating behavior, it’s foolish to believe that you will eat any differently than you always have. Write it down!!

3. Be consistent

If you look at some of the statistics about the behaviors of members of the NWCR you’ll notice that they are very consistent. Consider some of the statistics that I’ve already mentioned. 90% exercise every day, 75% weigh themselves every week and add to those that 75% report that they eat Breakfast every day. They didn’t exercise “when they had the time.” They didn’t eat Breakfast “here and there.” Whatever it is that you’re doing to lose weight and keep it off; you need to be doing it most of the time. And some things you should be doing very rarely…like eating treats. Consider the word “treat” for a moment. Most of us would consider things like cake, candy, chips and chocolate to fall into the category of “treats.” The Merriam-Webster definition of a “treat” is “an especially unexpected source of joy, delight or amusement.” Something that you eat every day or even a few times per week cannot possibly be considered “especially unexpected.” Treats, therefore, would be things that you ate very rarely…and this would be a good policy if you’re serious about losing weight and keeping it off!

Please note that no one is saying that making these changes is easy. In fact, it’s quite challenging. However, if you focus on how hard it is to make these changes or how unfair you feel it is that you need to make these changes, it’s taking your energy and focus away from discovering how you can actually make these changes. While there is no guarantee that following these steps will ensure lasting weight loss, there is an old adage that states that “If you want to be successful, do what successful people are doing.” Members of the National Weight Control Registry definitely qualify as successful, and if you’re truly serious about losing weight and keeping it off, it would be wise to follow in their footsteps.

Edited March 19, 2010 by wlh104

[frenchvanilla 0]

Just what i needed to hear to get myself back on track!! thank you sooo very much!