There are two parts to the Doctor’s system for weight control. The first is to weigh yourself weekly. If you don’t know what you weigh, you are not in control! Sometimes getting on the scale is hard. When you are 120 pounds overweight, it’s hard to be sure you have lost weight. Can you trust your body? Maybe you think you did all the right things and paid attention to how much you were eating. Can you trust yourself? Will your body reflect what you did, or think you did? The Doctor thinks it takes a long time to start to trust yourself again, when you have that much weight to lose. But so far…
…everything has gone according to the reality that I have recorded in my food journal and calorie counts. Hooray! This means I have lost:
Changes have started to happen
I have been living my new life of weight control (and finding new meaning and enjoyment in it) since January. Doing this has been enjoyable and not as much of a struggle as you would think, thanks to the changes I have made to my thinking. But things happen so slowly when you are paying this much attention! It wasn’t until late April (more than 40 pounds lost) that my clothes really started to fit differently. I can’t find any tool that lets you plug in your height and weight and get a waist size, and I have no idea what my waist size will be when I weigh, say, 205 pounds.
I started in January in size 52 pants and 52/54 belt. Now I am wearing size 50 pants and a 48 belt. A bit confusing, but it’s probably specific to my body. As I lose more, things will change. I am really looking forward to breaking into the 30s (waist size). Only 12 sizes to go! According to the “roll of paper towels” model of body shape, as the roll of paper towels gets smaller, each sheet taken off has a bigger and bigger effect. It’s a good model, based on volume to surface area. Anyway, I don’t want to get too far into fantasy land. There is a here and now to deal with. What I am doing is working.
Also, the Doctor was thinking about the bariatric or lap band surgery some people get for weight loss. How would that fit into the Doctor’s weight control program? If a person’s eating goal is to be full, well then, the lap band surgery will make it easier to feel full. You wouldn’t have to change a thing about your thinking! (The lengths we go to, just to avoid changing the way we think.) Much easier and better to change your thinking. Having hunger as my eating goal is working for me. Surgery not required!
The Doctor’s system also works for when the weight is lost and the new body needs to be maintained. The Doctor’s system of self knowledge and a focus on being hungry at the right time means you can keep off the weight (as long as you pay attention). If you relied on your stomach telling you it was full, with a lap band, then watch out! When the lap band is removed, your eating goal will remain the same and you may gain back weight. Stick with self knowledge and focus on hunger. It works!
-The Doctor