The Main Reason You Can't Lose Weight is EXACTLY What You Think!

Most businesses hope for repeat customers; weight loss businesses bank on it. Following New Year's, every single year, thousands of resolutions to lose weight are made and broken. If you have dieted once, chances are you have done it many times. You've tried the programs, read the books, watched the shows, took the pills, had the injections, and maybe even spoke to your doctor about your desire to lose weight.

Perhaps, you've even enjoyed some success, only to find yourself slipping again. But despite your best efforts, every time you look in the mirror or get out of a chair, you know you are carrying around more weight than is good for you. You are probably ready to throw your hands up in disgust and give up. Or maybe you will keep watching Dr. Oz hoping that one of his far flung schemes or pill of the day may actually work for you. Don't! The problem of losing weight and keeping it off is clearly a challenging one and difficult predicaments need good solutions. So what's a person to do?

From the inception of MDPrevent, I have believed that psycho-social issues are at the forefront of most people's inability to lose weight and keep it off. Some eat too much or choose the wrong foods because of stress, poor sleep, anxiety, depression, comfort, loneliness, etc. There are many reasons, and sometimes they even combine. Either way, if you don't deal with them, they keep plaguing you.

That's why one of the first professionals I added to my team was a health psychologist. Patients who want to lose weight once and for all find seeing a psychologist trained in such matters to be a godsend. Why? The answer comes from the psychologists themselves.

A new survey of psychologists confirms that dieters should pay attention to the role emotions play in weight gain and loss if they hope to succeed.

According to the American Psychological Association, the survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, queried over 1,300 licensed psychologists about how they dealt with clients’ weight and the challenges of losing weight. The strategies psychologists cited as essential to losing weight and keeping it off, was "understanding and managing the behaviors and emotions related to weight management." The doctors believed this was essential to forty-four percent (44%) of their clients who wanted weight loss. "Survey respondents also cited “emotional eating” (43 percent) as a barrier to weight loss, and included "maintaining a regular exercise schedule" (43 percent) and "making proper food choices in general" (28 percent) as keys to shedding pounds.

In general, gaining self-control over behaviors and emotions related to eating were both key, indicating that the two go together."

Among the 306 respondents who provide weight loss treatment, 92% reported helping a client “address underlying emotional issues related to weight gain.” More than 70 percent identified cognitive therapy, problem-solving and mindfulness as "excellent" or "good" weight loss strategies. In addition, motivational strategies, keeping behavioral records and goal-setting were also important in helping clients to lose weight and keep it off, according to survey results. Cognitive therapy, one of the clinical approaches often used by psychologists, helps people identify and address negative thoughts and emotions that can lead to unhealthy behaviors. "Mindfulness allows thoughts and emotions to come and go without judging them, and instead concentrate on being aware of the moment."

The full survey results are reported in the February 2013 issue of Consumer Reports Magazine.^®

Now clearly, psychologists telling the surveyors that their efforts to ensure their clients keep losing weight is somewhat self-serving, and I would be a ‘doubting Thomas’ myself if I didn't see the difference a psychologist can make. By the way, it’s not just the psychologists with whom I work that make a difference.  I recently sat with a friend from out of state who has enjoyed over a one-hundred pound weight loss. When we sat down to discuss his formula, the secret sauce is that he has been working with a psychologist.  My only concern in listening to him was that some of the foods he was eating to lose weight are not the healthiest.  Also, he would have been better off to consult with a nutritionist or registered dietitian to make sure that he was both losing weight and eating health promoting foods. Not all weight loss is healthy and ultimately what's the point of losing weight only to get sick?

Therefore, I recommend that if you can afford to see both a registered dietitian and a psychologist to lose weight, there is no better combination. If you have Medicare, nutritional consultations for weight loss are 100% covered under a program called Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Obesity if your body mass index (BMI) is above 30.

Last year, MDPrevent was the largest provider of such services in the State of Florida. If you can get to our office in Delray Beach, I welcome you do so (561-807-2561).  If not, consult with your local primary care physician or cardiologist to identify who is offering this service near your home.  Even if you don’t have Medicare, you can still give us a call so we can let you know what your insurance company will cover.

It turns out that the key to losing weight may really be in your head and we can help you use that knowledge to unlock a healthier, higher energy, and more enjoyable life.     

So stop wasting your time and money on programs whose results usually don't last and address once and for all the real problem: your emotional health.