Many patients tell me that when they achieve significant weight loss their global sense of "happiness"improves dramatically. Feeling better physicially and feeling better about how you look goes hand in hand with increasing "happiness". The road to this goal is paved with barriers, saboteurs, etc., but the end result leaves you feeling happier in many ways. If we all know that the happiness levels improve, then why is America 65% overweight?
Instinctual human behavior patterns explain part of this. Intellectually, we know that losing weight is "good for us", but to some extent we are an immediate gratification species, and when a good looking food source appears, it is very difficult for us to say "no".
Always try to mentate the reasons why you want to lose weight and try to focus on your current "happiness" level now and how that would change when you reach your weight loss goals. This will provide you with impetus to "just say no" when those high-caloric food sources appear.
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Just saying "no" was easier than expected on vacation this week. All I had to do was take a seat on the boardwalk for nearly 30 minutes and watch the people walking by with the buckets of fries, large boxes of caramel corn and huge ice cream cones,etc. These people were definitely not in a healthy eating frame of mind or thinking about weight loss. Most were overweight and although they were probably enjoying their indulgences, most looked unhappy and uncomfortable. Why is it that the "thin" people were laughing, joking around and seemed to be briskly walking by while not eating anything? I guess it's more enjoyable to hold a loved ones hand than hold a bucket of fries! O.K, so I had 4 fries and a soft serve ice cream....I'm not perfect!
To Susanne...
A word on my own heartache about the beach and buckets of fries......from the Fitness Trainer.
I apologize, up front, for the image I am about to draw and critique.
I was at the beach this weekend, too. And the boardwalk. And I saw the saddest thing on the boardwalk EVER.....
Let me start by saying, I LOVE to walk/jog/bike the boardwalk early in the morning. The BEST! As a family growing up and now with my own children---there is nothing like the early morning "parade" on the Boardwalk. Bikes, surreys, trikes, skates, bodies of all ages tanned and strong and bouncing along in sneakers...up and down the boardwalk for a steady 6 hours each and every day.
So what made me so sad???? ELECTRIC RIDING SCOOTERS ON THE BOARDWALK. I am not referring to scooters for the very elderly or the infirmed with leg braces or veterans with prosthetics. I am referring to numerous rented narrow riding scooters for people who have become overweight to the degree that they no longer have the stamina to stroll along the Boardwalk.
I must sound severe and critical and judgmental and cruel. I apologize. But I judge only this---what have we become as a society when instead of promoting, or, if you will, ADVERTISING the beauty of the sea and the feel of the sun and the sound of the ocean and the smell of the salt air, we focus wholly on the look and the smell and the touch and the taste of BUCKETS of french fries and 20" round pizzas and 32 ounce drinks and ice cream served in pints??
How do we tell the food vendors we don't need our food in BUCKETS? We don't need our "light fare menu" salads tossed with 12 croutons and 1/4 cup of trail mix and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise dressing and 9 ounces of chicken in bowls big enough to serve an entire family?
When do we say "NO"! ??? No to insulin injections and blood pressure beta blockers and by-pass surgery and $20,000 operations to narrow the stomach that Madison Avenue has helped us "supersize"?
When do we say "NO!"...Remember First Lady Nancy Reagan? She said "NO!" to drugs. They are bad for you and can kill you. So... Just Say, "NO" to food and drinks served in buckets....it, too, can kill you. At the very least, it can ruin your ability to take a lovely stroll on the Boardwalk.
My Apologies to our readers...but not to the insidious creators and promoters of the concept of "SUPER-SIZED" food portions.
I truly hope, we all soon get a new lease on life and pro-actively live for WELLNESS......and put the scooter folk out-of-business.
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