Teach Me To Be Fat

I've had the pleasure of attending webinars by  Bill O'Hanlon, a professional mental health counselor, who has presented some great ideas for weight-loss clients. He treats patients with depression and explains to them how they continue to keep themselves depressed by their actions: they isolate themselves, stay in bed, avoid exercise, ruminate, and basically perpetuate their depression by keeping themselves in it. While the advice for people suffering from depression includes getting some exercise, fresh air, and human contact, he uses a "reverse psychology" approach.

He asks his patients, "Teach me how to be depressed. You are so good at being depressed and knowing how to stay there--if I wanted to learn to be depressed, what would you tell me to do?". The patients can realize their predicament as they explain how to stay depressed, telling Bill to 'stay inside, don't answer your phone so you won't even speak to people who reach out to you, remain in your bed clothes for most of the day and don't brush your hair or do anything to improve your appearance'. The light bulb goes off over their head as they see how they've been feeding their depression, and see that if they do the opposite they may help themselves out of their situation.

He asks his patients who are overweight the same thing: Teach me how to be fat. You're an expert--you've been overweight your whole life--if you wanted to explain to someone how they could stay heavy and not lose weight, what would you tell them?

You might say, "Take every opportunity to eat! Even if you aren't hungry, if someone has cookies or candy out, take advantage and eat it.
When there is food left, finish it. Even if you've had enough for dinner--even when you feel stuffed!--be sure to have the rest of the food so it won't go to waste.
Use high-calorie foods and cooking methods: Never bake or broil, but fry most of your food. And add butter or oil to everything you can.... potatoes, salad, bread, and even vegetables which are naturally low-calorie.
Before bed time when you're relaxing, don't let this time go by without something to eat! You shouldn't have any down time when it comes to ingesting calories. A nice bowl of ice cream or a piece of cake will help you settle down to sleep.
Never plan ahead when it comes to meals. If you bring your lunch to work it might be something portion-controlled or healthy. Wait until it's time to eat and then grab whatever is fast--it will usually be something from a fast-food restaurant and these are normally high-fat and high-calorie selections. They also don't have anything to choose from for side dishes except french fries or onion rings, so you'll be sure to get an extra 400-calorie item.
Don't cook at home! You can control your cooking methods and portion sizes when you do that. Eat all your meals in restaurants where they add lots of fat (read, calories!) to make the food taste extra rich and creamy. Always include a beverage like soda or punch that has extra sugar-laden calories, and be sure to order dessert and not to split anything with anyone! Eat it all yourself and clean your plate!
The other side of the equation is exercise, of course. Don't burn calories if you want to stay overweight! Never set foot in a gym. As a matter of fact, it helps not to even own a pair of comfortable shoes so you won't be tempted to walk very much.
Use elevators and escalators instead of stairs, even when going down. Park as close as you can to your destination. Some stores have those riding carts so you don't even have to walk and push a shopping cart!
And forget about doing anything remotely "sport-like". Don't ride a bike, play frisbee or catch with your kids, pick up a tennis racket or even go to a bowling alley.
Automate everything you can: Riding mowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, heck--pay the neighbor kid to rake leaves so you don't have any more activity than just sitting if you can help it!

Of course, the list goes on. How do you stay fat? Keep doing things that increase your calorie intake and decrease any calorie output. Make a list; post some of your ideas here to share.
When you realize what you're doing that's keeping you overweight, you'll be able to target some changes to make to get the weight loss results you've been looking for!

Can't Find 30 Minutes a Day to Exercise? Think Again!

Watch this video. See how it challenges your perspective.

It's 10 minutes long, but on the bright side it's very entertaining.

So sit back and be prepared to take notice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

If you think you can't find 30 minutes a day for exercise, think again and think hard.

Feel free to comment below :)
Laurie

Don't "Should" on Yourself

Think about how often you say "I should" (either aloud or to yourself) and what it means to you.

"Shoulds" come with obligation, duty, guilt, comparison.

If you are always telling yourself, "I should lose weight" then who are you doing it for?  How compelling has it been in the past to lose weight 'because you should'?

Wants are cravings and desires; they pull you towards them and are associated with positive action or reward when you do/get them.

Try changing your language, and see how your perspective changes when your brain hears something in a different way:

"I want to go for a walk"
"I want to eat a healthy meal (with fiber/vegetables that will keep me satisfied, that I will feel good about)"
"I want to keep my food log/do my workbook homework after dinner"

This week, try changing some "shoulds" to "wants" and notice how differently you react.

Feel free to leave comments here!

Get Ready for Week One!

Hi!

By now you should have received your workbook as well as the call-in information. Remember to bookmark this site, as well as the email with the call-in numbers, because they won't be posted anywhere else in order to maintain privacy on our calls.

When you have time, look through the first 4 chapters of the book so we can discuss them on the call. In these introductory chapters, Dr. Beck explains how you need to set yourself up for success even before you start your diet.

I know some of you have already started eating healthy and making time for exercise, and that's great! Even if you're humming along fine right now, following the Beck Diet Plan actions will assure you don't fall off the wagon when stressful times would ordinarily knock you right off your good intentions.

Monday isn't the first day of your diet, but it's the first day of our LifeChanging! Weight Loss Series.
Welcome to our group :)

Feel free to post a brief introduction below in the comments section; just click on "comment".

Our "thought for the week": Your goal is to lose weight. But before you get to a goal, you have to make a decision. What have you decided that will move you towards your goal? Once you've made your decision, you'll be able to set some actions; then progress will occur! Please share in the comments section :)

Laurie

Welcome to Lifechanging! Weight Loss

If you've signed up for the Lifechanging! Weight Loss Series  (using the Beck Diet Solution Workbook) and weekly calls with me, Laurie Beebe, MS,RD,LD  "The Diet Coach", this is where I'll leave updates starting soon, and you can comment and converse with our group.

Comments from those who are not group members will not be published.

If you've happened upon this page and want to learn more, see more details on my website here.