Any advice for a doctor who wants to lose weight?

I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Steve

My doctor's on the Atkins diet. He had a gastric by pass about 4 years
ago he lost at first then gained it back. I'm on the Atkins diet too it
works for me.

What does your physician say?
Did you get a referral to a registered dietitian?

"Dr. R." wrote:

I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Steve

Do you really want to lose weight? It turns out that it's as simple as
deciding to do what it takes. When you really decide that you want to
take care of your body you will look at the things you do differently.
I'm not saying it doesn't take some practice to work out the kinks, but
in the end it's just a matter of problem solving once you're really on
board with it.

When you want to lose weight you evaluate what goes in your mouth based
on whether it's for fueling your body versus entertainment or
psychological comfort. If you choose to lose weight you'll find other
ways to get your entertainment and your comfort. The most important
thing you need to do when you want to lose weight is to change your
mindset when eating over to "eat to fuel your body".

When you want to lose weight you need to exercise. It takes some
experimentation to find what sport you like or what works in your
schedule, but exercise needs to get as easy to fit into your day as
brushing your teeth. Do you sit and argue with yourself about whether
you have time to brush your teeth or not? Do you skip brushing because
you're out of toothpaste? My guess is that you manage without.
Exercising needs to be like that: it's basic maintenance for owners of
human bodies. View it like that and value it like that and you'll make
room for it.

This isn't a one-shot deal. The lifestyle changes have to be permanent
and that takes practice. But start acting like you'll have to act when
you get to goal weight and you'll eventually, slowly, find yourself
there. That means you have to eat like a slender person and exercise
like a slender person. All this effort will pay off in time because
when you are a slender person you'll already know how to do maintenance.

A program that I found very helpful in baby-stepping me along the way
was the Body for Life program. It follows a Zone/Glycemic Index/South
Beach sort of diet with a refeed day and three days of cardio plus three
days of weight-lifting. Get the book for Christmas and see if it helps
you "cross the abyss" from knowing what to do over to deciding to do it.

I hope this helps.

Dally
244/189/174
Dr. R. wrote:
I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Steve

"Dr. R." wrote in message
s.com
snip

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Low carb works for me. I never believed it would or that I could stick to
it. Now I can't imagine eating any other way.
--
Jeri
265/189/120
Atkins since 11/5/01
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 17:22:23 GMT, "Dr. R."
wrote:

I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Steve



Basically, you have to want it enough to work for it. Period.

And the work will last a lifetime. You really have to resign yourself
to that... if you lose the weight and go right back to the habits that
got you fat in the first place, it will happen again.


Things that have helped me:

Upping my protein intake
Regular moderate exercise
Cutting back on carbs
Eating plenty of good veggies and a couple servings of fruit daily
Staying busy (busy folks have less time to eat)
Logging (I use Lifeform software)
Getting trigger foods out of the house
Cooking more

Don't worry about being perfect... lapses will happen. When they do,
fine, but next day, next meal, get right back on track.

Cynthia
262/228.5/225

One motivator with proven success is fear. Do you have metabolic
syndrome yet? At least 3 of High BP, high trig, low hdl, central
obesity, high FPG? If so, as you know, you are at much higher risk
for diabetes and CHD. The good news is this should be added
motivation for you to lose weight. What's worked for me: 1) at least
one hour exercise daily 2) no refined grains, added sugars, or white
potatoes limited saturated fat, no trans-fat. Ditch the "killer"
meat-and-potatoes diet. 3) six equal size (in calories) meals daily 4)
daily weighing see http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercuryne...th/5633119.htm

"Dr. R." wrote in message ws.com...
I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

What I want to know is what works in the real world
over the long term? I want to lose seventy pounds and
keep it off. I've tried enough different ideas. Now I
want to hear from you what works in your experience or
what doesn't work. Maybe I'll figure it out with your help.

Steve


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Maybe look at diet books that other physicians have written:

Eating Well For Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Bringing Health and
Pleasure Back to Eating
by Andrew Weil (Author) (Paperback - March 2001)

The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the
Island of Crete
by Artemis P. Simopoulos (MD)(Author), Jo Robinson (Author)

"Dr. R." wrote in message ws.com...
I've tried other motivators. I thought I'd try this newsgroup
and see if I can make some progress...

I'm an MD trying to lose weight. I know the stock
answers. Motivation is a problem. If you have perfect
eating habits you'll lose weight. If you're locked in
a hospital bed for sixty days on a forced diet, you'll
lose weight.

It doesn't change the person you are and the things that contribute to
the weight problem.

Readers Digest did a study and they discovered that around 95% of all
diets fail. They were interested in the 5% though and discovered that
they had taken on and kept up new exercise regimes and had made other
changes permanent features. Otherwise they weren't on a diet any
longer, they had become people they weren't before the diet. They also
discovered that those who were prepared to switch and change to
various diets it worked in their favour, i.e. one week buying calorie
counted meals straight from the freezer, another doing the counting
yourself, another going low carb and so on. In another of their
reports (I think it was Readers Digest) they discovered that people
who included a milk product in their diet were more likely to succeed.
Support is essential too.

Their new published diet works on a day one basis I thing i.e. each
day is the first day. I can't say that is a good idea or not as I
personally think it could be a disaster for some, but I haven't gone
too deep into it.

My husband went on the Atkins for 2 weeks and lost a stone, I did it
with him and lost one pound, which I put back on the next week.

If you like to eat a lot Slimming World's red and green days work
well, but if you make a mistake and eat meat and carbohydrate together
you can end up in a worse position. (they deny that it's food
combining like in the Hay diet, but it's very similar)

Weight Watchers work on a points system, which equates to set basics
and the points are extras, Rosemary Connelly is low fat, I think
Slimming Club is low calorie, the Hay diet food combines and Atkins
and the Airforce diet are low carb.

Slimfast has been proven scientifically to work, but I've known some
people end up gagging because they've had so much of the milk shake.
The muscle building world know a lot about diet and have done quite a
bit of study, even to the point of finding out that T2 has more to do
with losing weight than anyone knew.

Basically, become interested and keep at it and don't feel a failure,
just keep starting again tomorrow. You always have the advantage that
you can hold in your head, that if a doctor can't do it, then how can
the patients. It's also going to take a long time and longer on top of
that to change who you are now.

In some people it's been linked to a virus that they have had and got
better from, others to hormones, psychological problems, stress amd so
on. I believe that society has been largely responsible for some
people becoming so unhappy that they don't care for themselves any
longer. Lack of sleep can effect weight too.

Carol T

Carol T wrote:

Great reply. You seem really knowledgeable!

Slimfast has been proven scientifically to work, but I've known some
people end up gagging because they've had so much of the milk shake.

I gag because it's so high-glycemic without enough protein or fiber to
leave me feeling full.

The muscle building world know a lot about diet and have done quite a
bit of study, even to the point of finding out that T2 has more to do
with losing weight than anyone knew.

What is T2?

Dally