weight loss and accountability

One of the reasons that people lose weight in a medically supervised program is the accountability that people feel. While in a program, once a week the person needs to get on a scale in front of a medical professional. This produces a psychological motivation to be successful in losing weight, as there is some sort of desire not to "disappoint" the medical practitioner. Clearly, in reality, you are the one paying the physician for your visits, and presumably, the physician and staff do not feel disappointment at all if your weight does not come down aggressively. Rather, the medical staff tries to figure out how the weight loss could be more aggressive. However, when someone weighs him/herself at home, there is no one else to see the results. Pressure is off.

How can we, the Serotonin-Plus staff, keep that motivation going after your formal visits are complete? As much as we tell you there is no "finish line" when it comes to your efforts to lose weight, often when people leave their formal visits, a finish line is perceived and slowly the person starts returning to the old behaviors that caused the weight problem to begin wth.

I strongly suggest that when you leave your formal visits, you still schedule a once a month visit to our office to get the INBODY scan perfomred. This will cost you NOTHING. Put this in your schedule as an appointment similar to when you had your fromal visits here. Do not miss that "appointment". JUst show up, tell the front staff you want a body composition test, and we will be happy to do this for you. No charge. If you see a weight gain over 5 pounds that occurred since your last visit, we can then have you stay for a formal appointment with us. We will provide one week of medication, get you refocused and motivated and those 5 pounds will take you one week to lose. This one real visit will cost you far less than another 12 week program because of a 20-30 pound gain. If the weight is remaining under control each month at the scan, then no one-time formal visit is needed....your body scan is free of course.

Perhaps the above suggestion will create a psycholgical accountability that will help you maintain the weight loss you worked so hard to achieve.

weight and accountability

One of the features of any weight loss program is the "accountability" that accompanies weekly visits and weigh-ins. There is a certain psychological aspect to going in to a physician's office and getting on a scale in front of the medical staff member. Often, people feel not only diappointment in themselves but also a sensation of disappointing the staff when that week's results are suboptimal. Of course we do not get upset/angry or in any other way "judgement", as we clearly know our role is support and encouragement.

How can you keep the sense of "accountability" when you are no coming for formal visits? I am not certain there is a defined answer to this but setting goals and timeframes and then rewards (non caloric of course!) to recognize reaching these milestones can be helpful. Set your reasonable goals for weight loss and at every 5 pounds or so, reward yourself...a massage, an accessory for you car or some other noncaloric reward may help motivate you and keep you accountable to yourself!

weight loss and accountability

Often I am asked what part of our program is "most" important. Phentermine certainly reduces appetite...we know that alone, studies on phentermine show about a 1.2 pound weight loss per work, yet our program produces an average of 2.5 pounds, so is the Serotonin-Plus the key? Or, is it the need to come in for weekly visits for accountability?

The answer, I believe is that ALL aspects of the program are important, and most definitely, having to come in for weekly visits, getting on the scale in front of our medical person, and discussing the issues of the week is a vital aspect of our program or any program.

How can we help you develop a "self-accountability" behavior pattern that allows you, when you leave the formal program visits, to maintain this sense of accountability? Certainly, first and foremost is requiring yourself to write down your weight once a week on a sheet that allows you to see the weight measurement for every week before. Perhaps developing a "reward" system (or punative if you respond to that better) based on your weight loss efforts..example: when you reach certain goals, you allow yourself to get a massage, a piece of jewelry or some other reward that you will not indulge yourself with until you reach that goal.

Does paying money for weight loss results make us more motivated? Meaning, when you come here and spend lots of hard earned money, do you mentally feel more drive to not waste the money and therfore get results?

Self-accountability is the key for maintaining your weight loss. Feel free to come in and use our scale once a week after your visits are finished. Perhaps that will provide a sense of accoountability without spending any more money!

Americans and Weight

Good morning from Vegas...

A study was released from the University of South Carolina and released in the American Medical Journal documented that despite being better informed about the health benefits of eating better and living a healthier life-style, less Americans are conforming now then they did 20 years ago.

A health check-list, including eating choices, exercising, smoking and consumming alcohol was administered to people in the 1980s and then the same check-list to people from 2003-2006.

Here is some of the data: Only 8% of Americans now meet all 5 of the healthy life-style criteria as compared to twice that number in the 198023. The obesity rate has risen from 28% to 36%. Those people eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day dropped from 42% to 26%.

The question is why, given the fact that we have been better educated over the years as to the association of weight with disease, that the numbers are getting worse as opposed to better.

Will continue this discussion tomorrow.

Have a great Saturday!

weight gain and accountability

Yesterday we had a number of patients cancel their appointments for followup visits in the program. This is a very common occurrence after a three-day weekend. Why? The reason is that a number of people gain weight during the holiday weekends because of excessive eating and drinking. When Tuesday rolls around, there is a feeling of "embarrassment" or a fear that when they weigh in there will be a rebuke or negative reaction from us.

After a weight gaining week, this is the exact time NOT to cancel your appointment. There is absolutely no reason to be embarrassed and certainly our role here is supportive...not judgemental like a parent or a teacher if you "mess up".

Holiday weekends are very challenging because it seems as if everyone around us is consumming alcohol, eating high-caloric foods, etc. It is very difficult not to partake of these activities and if weight gain occurs, IT IS OKAY!!! Not every week will be a successful weight loss week. The key is monitoring what happens by writing down your weight weekly and having a reaction planned based on what you see. When you are in the visit phase of your program of course come in that week. We will help you focus, prescribe you the med, and get you back on track!