Your weight and your health, A Guide to Change

If you want to lose weight, please see a doctor first, even if it's a doctor or nurse at a local clinic. First of all, because you have a flabby stomach doesn't necessarily mean you need to lose weight. Being flabby might mean that you need to work out. If your waist measures one half your height, then your pretty much in proportion. You have to be careful losing weight, you can lose more muscle then fat and end up ruining your health or end up pear shaped. When seeing a doctor though, remember that his motives for you losing weight are a little different than your. He wants your to improve your health and doesn't care how you look in that new two piece you just bought. But if your not going to feel better, increase your energy level and fit into some better clothes than what's the point. Over the past few years it has become clear that weight is an important health issue. Being overweight is a risk factor for health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, arthritis, gall bladder disease, gynecologic problems, some cancers, and even lung problems. Some people who need to lose weight for their health don't recognize it, while others who don't need to lose weight, want to get thinner for cosmetic reasons. Some people may have had encounters with health-care providers in which they felt blamed, but not helped. Please be assured that when a doctor brings up your weight, it's because they know that this is an important aspect of your overall health care. Understand, though, that successful weight management is a long-term challenge. I think it's no different than an alcoholic who stops drinking, of course you can't stop eating but you definitely have to change your habits for the long term. By the same token, doctors may discuss weight goals that are different from your goals. Weight can affect a person's self-esteem. Excess weight is highly visible and evokes some powerful reactions from other people and from the people who possess the excess weight. The amount of weight needed to improve your health may be much less than you wish to lose when you consider how you evaluate your weight. If your doctor suggests an initial weight goal that seems too heavy for you, please understand that our major emphasis is on your health and that your health can be greatly improved by a loss of 5-10 percent of your starting weight. That doesn't mean you have to stop there, but it does mean that an initial goal of losing 5-10 percent of your starting weight is both realistic and valuable. Behaviors That Will Help You Lose Weight and Maintain It; Set the Right Goals Setting the right goals is an important first step. Most people trying to lose weight focus on just that one goal: weight loss. However, the most productive areas to focus on are the dietary and exercise changes that will lead to that long-term weight change. Successful weight managers are those who select two or three goals at a time that they are willing to take on, that meet the following criteria of useful goals: Effective goals are: 1. specific; 2. attainable; and 3. forgiving (less than perfect) "Exercise more" is a commendable ideal, but it's not specific. "Walk five miles everyday" is specific and measurable, but is it attainable if you're just starting out?" Walk 30 minutes every day" is more attainable, but what happens if you're held up at work one day and there's a thunderstorm during your walking time another day? "Walk 30 minutes, five days each week" is specific, attainable, and forgiving. In short, a great goal! Remember when you first begin any exercise program like walking that speed is not important, doing the 30 minutes is more important, even if it's slow. You can increase the speed lter as you get use to the walk. Nothing Succeeds Like Success Shaping is a behavioral technique in which you select a series of short-term goals that get closer and closer to the ultimate goal (e.g., an initial reduction of fat intake from 40% of calories to 35% of calories, and later to 30%). It is based on the concept that "nothing succeeds like success." Shaping uses two important behavioral principles: 1) consecutive goals that move you ahead in small steps are the best way to reach a distant point; and 2) consecutive rewards keep the overall effort invigorated. Reward Success (But Not with Food) Rewards that you control can be used to encourage attainment of behavioral goals, especially those that have been difficult to reach. An effective reward is something that is desirable, timely, and contingent on meeting your goal. The rewards you administer may be tangible (e.g., a movie or music CD or a payment toward buying a more costly item) or intangible (e.g., an afternoon off from work or just an hour of quiet time away from family). Numerous small rewards, delivered for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than bigger rewards, requiring along, difficult effort. I think of rewards as something you do for yourself because you reached a small goal like losing 5 pounds or a reward every sunday just because you haven't quit and you didn't gain any weight. Balance Your (Food) Checkbook Keep track of the food you eat and the quanity, you can always go back and plug in the calories. It's important to record this as a way to look back if needed to see why your not losing as much as you thought or at times when you want the behavior to improve. Self-monitoring of a behavior usually changes the behavior in the desired direction and can produce "real-time" records for review by you and your health care provider. For example, keeping a record of your exercise can let you and your provider know quickly how you're doing, and when the record shows that your exercise is increasing, you'll be encouraged to keep it up. Some people find that specific self-monitoring forms make it easier, while others prefer to use their own recording system. While you may or may not wish to weigh yourself frequently while losing weight, regular monitoring of your weight will be essential to help you maintain your lower weight. When keeping a record of your weight, a graph may be more informative than a list of your weights. When weighing yourself and keeping a weight graph or table, however, remember that one day's diet and exercise patterns won't have a measurable effect on your fat weight the next day. Today's weight is not a true measure of how well you followed your program yesterday, because your body's water weight will change much more from day to day than will your fat weight, and water changes are often the result of things that have nothing to do with your weight-management efforts. Changing Behavior Stimulus (cue) control involves learning what social or environmental cues seem to encourage undesired eating, and then changing those cues. For example, you may learn from reflection or from self-monitoring records that you're more likely to overeat while watching television, or whenever treats are on display by the office coffee pot, or when around a certain friend. You might then try to sever the association of eating with the cue (don't eat while watching television), avoid or eliminate the cue (leave coffee room immediately after pouring coffee), or change the circumstances surrounding the cue (plan to meet with friend in non-food settings). Another example; when I stopped smoking I had to quit drinking coffee, not forever, just until the craving for a cigarette stopped. In general, visible and accessible food items are often cues for unplanned eating. So, don't leave snacks or desserts on the counter or somewhere they can tempt you. Get the (Fullness) Message Changing the way you go about eating can make it easier to eat less without feeling deprived. It takes 15 or more minutes for your brain to get the message you've been fed. Slowing the rate of eating can allow satiety (fullness) signals to begin to develop by the end of the meal. Eating lots of vegetables can also make you feel fuller. Another trick is to use smaller plates so that moderate portions do not appear meager. Changing your eating schedule, or setting one, can be helpful, especially if you tend to skip, or delay, meals and overeat later. My secret to "never feel hungry" was to never skip eating. I eat 5 times a day. I just eat less, no big meals. If you eat every 2 1/2 or 3 hours and just eat for example half a sandwich and a glass of tea or coffee or better yet a bottle of water you won't get hungry. And keep that bottle of water close by. Drinking plenty of water fills you up and keeps you hydrated. You don't want to look like a prune.