Every week we have patients come back to our program who have been with us previously. Each and every one of them did very well in their first program with us, losing weight aggressively and leaving quite happy. However, over a period of months or years, for a significant number of people, weight will start going up again. In a perfect world, our program or anyone else's for that matter would help people lose weight permanently.
Unfortunately, lifestyle changes as that relates to food consumption, alcohol usage and exercise (or lack thereof) are very difficult to accomplish permanantly. Temporarily, we can go on "diets"...meaning for a period of time we change our behavioral patterns, but a very common psychological factor is our desire to "cross a finsh line". This means that when we have reached our goal or close to it, we then are able to start going back to old behaviors.
Truly, to lose weight and keep the weight off requires life style changes and permanant behavior modification. When people decide to start a weight loss effort, they are in a mental "zone" of sorts, meaning they are geared up mentally to alter their lifestyles. Whether it be the health issues, cosmetic appearance, or whatever reasons, the person is "psyched up" to mke weight loss a priority and that person is willing to change their current lifestyle.
How do we stay in this "zone"? We have offered up several ideas such as keeping a card with the five major reasons as to whyyou want to lose weight and look at that card daily. Another way is to keep "pre" and "post" pictures prominently displayed in places wehere you will see them daily. Coming to our office and use our scale for a "weigh-in" will not cost you one penny, yet may psychologically allow you to feel the "accountability" that is an important part of any weight loss program. I am certain that our patients who have successfully maintained their weight loss have other concepts/ideas as to how to maintain the lifestyle changes. PLEASE feel free to offer those hints/suggestions up! E-mail me at: serotab@aol.com
On a non-medical note: I am playing a tennis match this morning. This sport is really puttering out for some reason. I think it is a great sport for people because you can still play ata decent level when you get older unlike the real "jump and run" sports such as basketball and football.
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I find being "accountable" to someone while sticking to a program is a big help. If you are trying to maintain, and your weight starts to go up, I find going back to weighing and measuring your food portions is a big help. We might think we are eating the correct amount, but on going back to that food scale and measuring cups, you will find that your portion size has grown to more than suggested. Getting back on track sometimes needs a little help and we are glad to have good healthy guidelines to go by with this program. Also the support and encouragement from all the staff helps! Know what your limit is if you are gaining weight and get back on track with the sp lifestyle change.
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