The Venus Factor

Severe Obesity In Adults Weight Loss Treatment And Tips

Severe obesity is a serious medical condition experienced by people with a body mass index of 40 or above. Previously called morbid obesity, it affects an estimated six million American adults, or about 1 in 33 of the adult population. Associated with a range of complex metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance syndrome and raised blood-fats, plus other weight-related health problems, this condition should not be confused with overweight (BMI > 25) or regular obesity (BMI > 30). It is a serious disease requiring professional help.

Since I started my weight loss consultancy over 24 years ago, I have met and spoken at length with hundreds of severely obese individuals weighing 300 pounds or more. For most of them, their weight was a major source of discomfort – both physical and emotional – yet over the years most had “adapted” to their growing waistline and were resigned to remaining seriously overweight for the rest of their life.

For doctors and other health care specialists who work with obese patients, this type of patient-resignation to lifelong obesity is no surprise. But in fact it is only one of many obstacles to long-term weight loss. Many clinically obese individuals struggle with a variety of psychological issues to which they have trained themselves to respond by overeating. Some of these issues – for example, the early loss of a parent – require sophisticated counseling and even then may remain unresolved. In addition, many obese people struggle with family, educational or financial difficulties which further reduce their treatment and recovery options. Given the complex causes, responses and conditions surrounding obesity, it comes as no surprise that many conventional treatments remain largely ineffective. Sadly, many people of normal weight – including members of the medical profession – still find it difficult to accept the intractable nature of the condition, which only adds to the sense of alienation and guilt experienced by the very obese.

Obesity Treatment Options

How effective a treatment is in helping severely obese patients to reduce weight, largely depends upon its ability to tackle the root causes of the condition. Most treatments deal with symptoms (excessive calorie intake) rather than causes (why obese individuals overeat).

Conventional Weight Loss Diets

Now that the low carb approach championed by Atkins Diet seems to have run its course, leaving many obese dieters close to if not heavier than their initial starting weight, the efficacy of conventional weight loss diets is more questionable than ever as a means of reducing obesity. Whatever their dietary composition, most reduced-calorie diets offer insufficient support to help obese patients make the necessary changes to their eating and exercise habits.

Bariatric Surgery

Gastric reduction surgery is a vital “last resort” treatment option for patients with severe weight-related health problems. It typically leads to very significant weight loss and health benefits, but it deals with symptoms not causes. So although it compels patients to eat less, thus forcing them to lose significant amounts of weight in the 2 year period following their gastric bypass or banding operation, it tends to have less success in dealing with the root causes of disordered eating which have built up in the patient’s mind over the years. As a result, about 2-3 years after their operation, a large percentage of bariatric patients find it too difficult to follow the recommended dietary guidelines and end up regaining most if not all their starting weight.

Obesity Drug Treatment

The increasing number of obesity drug prescriptions issued to patients shows that doctors continue to lean heavily on pharmaceutical intervention for weight reduction. Furthermore, with obesity now labelled as the “trillion dollar disease”, drug companies continue to invest heavily in their search for a scientific breakthrough. Yet clinical trials of FDA-approved obesity pills continue to show minimal long-term weight loss benefits for severely obese patients, almost certainly because drugs are not yet capable of dealing with the fundamental causes of disordered eating.

Does This Mean Obesity Is Untreatable?

In view of the limited success of conventional diets, surgery and drugs, does this mean that obesity is untreatable? No. It simply means that more specialised or support-based options are necessary. The first step in finding the best treatment option for any obesity condition is to talk to a doctor, who should be able to outline what specialised treatments are available. For example, there are a number of excellent medically-supervised weight loss programs run by hospitals and clinics in the US and Canada, that offer real support and counseling. Self-help support groups like Overeaters Anonymous (505-891-2664) or TOPS (800-932-8677) can also be extremely helpful. Alternatively, contact the American Dietetic Association (800-366-1655), or the American Obesity Association (202-776-7711) for further information.

Some Practical Tips If You Are Obese

For anyone who is 300 pounds or more, seeking medical advice and getting proper support is essential. Relying upon pills, diets or willpower alone is not enough. However, you can do a number of things to help yourself and improve your chances of losing weight. Here are a few suggestions.

Stop Telling Yourself That You Can’t Lose Weight

Whatever your size or shape, and whatever your history of weight gain, the truth is you can lose weight and you can keep it off. In 24 years I have yet to meet anyone who was unable to lose weight, although I have met lots of people who lacked the motivation to stick to their diet! The point is, not being able to do something is quite different from not really wanting to do it. Yet most dieters confuse these two things. They think they can’t lose weight, whereas in fact what they are really describing is an unwillingness to make the necessary changes to their eating habits. So stop telling yourself that you can’t lose weight – because it’s not true. The real question is: do you want to reduce weight, and if so, why?

Start Telling Yourself Why You Want To Lose Weight

The messages we transmit to ourselves in the form of thoughts have the same effect as radio commercials. The more often we hear a particular message, the more we believe it. Tell yourself every day that you want to lose weight and gradually it will become a bigger and bigger priority. But don’t stop there. In addition, tell yourself how losing weight will improve your life. Maybe your goal is to receive more male attention; or maybe your aim is to fit into a pair of regular jeans; or perhaps you think a leaner body will boost your confidence. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what benefit you think weight loss will give you, the important thing is to advertise this benefit to yourself at every possible opportunity. Start today and try it for three months, and I guarantee it will help you to lose weight.

Start Understanding Your Body Chemistry

There are three things you need to know about body chemistry and obesity control. First, the longer you go without food, the more likely you are to overeat later. So eat something small at least once every three hours. This reduces the risk of bingeing and helps you burn calories at the fastest possible rate. Second, the less chewy and more easily digestible a food is, the easier it is to overeat. By comparison, chewy foods tend to contain more fiber and therefore keep us fuller for longer. A good example of an easily digestible food is a creamy dessert. Even after a huge meal, most of us can demolish a serving of cheesecake or a bowl of rich ice cream, without much difficulty. In comparison, eating 5 oranges or 6 apples after a large main course would be almost impossible. So include plenty of high fiber foods in your daily diet. They contain fewer calories, they fill up your stomach, and they keep hunger at bay for longer. Thirdly, most women experience food cravings in the week before TOM. This is perfectly natural as well as forseeable. So make sure you have an extra supply of healthy snacks to keep yourself satisfied. Above all, don’t try to deny yourself the extra food your body craves – you won’t succeed – just make sure you have healthy options available.

Don’t Try To Be Perfect

God doesn’t create perfect people, he creates humans. And humans enjoy to***co, alcohol, double chocolate chip muffins and truck-sized boxes of movie popcorn. So unless you come from Mars, don’t try to be a perfect dieter because it ain’t gonna happen! Every dieter has bad days, bad weeks, sometimes even bad months. But so what? Losing weight isn’t a race – it’s a journey. How long it takes to arrive at your destination is not important. The only thing that matters is that you do eventually get there. Besides, once you accept that your diet-wagon is going to lose a wheel from time to time, you can plan how to react when it happens. Whereas if you assume your diet is going to be trouble-free, you are less likely to be prepared when disaster strikes.

Stay Guilt-Free Under All Circumstances

Suppose you are 300 pounds. You start a diet, you start exercising with a neighbor, things go well and you lose 30 pounds, you feel on top of the world, then you have a huge bust-up with someone. Result? Your diet falls apart, you stop exercising and start comfort-eating. How can you prevent this from happening? Answer: you can’t. This is Life. This is what happens. All you can do is go with the flow. If this means binging for a week until you feel better, so be it. But whatever you do, DON’T FEEL GUILTY. Because guilt will eat you up and will keep you obese for ever. In my experience, a dieter’s initial bout of overeating is rarely the problem – it’s the guilt which it inspires that does the damage and causes them to quit. Losing weight should be a guilt-free zone, and don’t believe anyone who tells you different. On my weight loss program and forum there is no guilt, no matter what happens.

Join A Weight Loss Community

If you are connected to the Internet, try to find an active forum where you can post your weekly weight, keep a food or weight loss journal, swap ideas with other dieters and generally have fun. Many people regard weight reduction as a totally serious matter. But it’s not. It’s a journey from A to B. And just like any journey, it passes more easily when we have fun and learn interesting things along the way. My weight loss forum is a very supportive place, but there are dozens of other forums to choose from. One of the biggest benefits of an active dieting forum is the opportunity it gives you to express your feelings. You can vent about your personal success or failure and also show your support for other people, which is equally therapeutic. So look out for a suitable online weight loss community and watch your obesity gradually disappear into thin air!

Setting Goals When Dieting

As with most things in life, setting goals is very important when dieting. When you look at things truthfully and objectively you should notice that most of the things you’ve accomplished in life have been accomplished because you not only had a goal but also had a clearly planned and well thought out process for achieving that goal. That being said, why is goal setting so important when it comes to dieting?

First of all, it is difficult to achieve a goal if you do not have a clearly defined goal. There are times in life when it is almost impossible to tell whether you are succeeding or failing because you aren’t certain exactly what the desired outcome should be. Identifying your dieting goals before you begin eliminates this particular possibility.

Second, having dieting goals gives you a measuring stick by which you can judge your process. This is important so that you know when your efforts are failing behind and when you’re moving along schedule or ahead of schedule. In other words, you will know when to celebrate and when to give yourself a swift kick to the rear.

Now that we know why we set weight loss goals, let’s discuss how we should go about setting those goals that are so important for dieting success. You want to set goals that are aggressive without being impossible to achieve. If you set goals that are beyond your reach you will find that frustration will be your dieting partner until you reach the point where you give up all together. In order to avoid this you should take great care to insure that your goals are possible for you to achieve.

When it comes to weight loss be specific when setting your goals. Rather than setting a total goal of 40 or 60 pounds start with a specific goal such as 10 pounds in one month. Then you can extend the goal to the next month until you’ve reached the overall goal of 40 or 60 pounds. It is much easier to lose 10 pounds four times than it is to lose 40 pounds at once. It’s a trick of the mind but it works. Ten pounds sounds simple and achievable. Forty pounds sounds like an insurmountable obstacle.

Another thing about goals is that you want to hold yourself accountable but you shouldn’t call the whole thing off if you only lose 9 pounds instead of 10. Instead, find out where you dropped the ball for the final pound and set your 10-pound goal for the next month.

You should also take great care that you are working with your personal goals and not the goals that someone else is pushing on you. The truth is that if it’s personal to you, it will be much more rewarding than if you are doing this for someone else. If your heart isn’t in it, there are very few goals that are going to motivate you properly.

Finally, you should establish small (non-food) rewards for accomplishing your dieting goals. Perhaps your reward will be a new accessory for your new (or new old) wardrobe or a pedicure for your new look. Make your reward something fun and frivolous and teach yourself that accomplishing your goals can be accomplished by something other than food. This is a key to dieting successfully.

The Dieting Mind Set

When it comes to dieting, far too many people set themselves up for failure before they even begin the process. They literally dread going on their diets and before they start the process are planning their mishaps along the way. Sad to say but true, far too many would be dieters are planning their first Rocky Road mishap while eating their last bowl of Rocky Road before the big event.

I have no idea why we tend to do this to ourselves but it is something I see in dieters everywhere. The far too popular notion is that one must binge on the foods most loved and enjoyed before beginning the dieting process because these things must be completely eliminated in order to shed those unwanted pounds. If you are honest with yourself, nothing could be further from the truth. Moderation is simply a concept that many of us are loathe to embrace.

You must change your way of thinking about food and your personal enjoyment of food in order for any diet you embrace to be successful. Food isn’t the enemy. And that is something that not enough people really understand. Even the ‘tasty’ foods aren’t the enemy. The enemy is your personal inability to properly portion the foods you eat. The problem is that the vast majority of us eat the wrong foods far more often than we eat the right foods. This is where the problems lie.

Our bodies need the nutrients we are lacking by not eating the five servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit each day that we should consume. Our bodies know that something is missing and we feel hungry or deprived. If we were actually consuming the proper balance of fruits and veggies each day we would find that we were far less likely to feel hungry and desire those foods that aren’t as healthy. This means we would be much more likely to enjoy them in moderation as they should be enjoyed.

Portion control is another problem that we have. We live in a society of “up selling”. Super sized fries and empty calories by the gallon of your favorite cola are offered with almost every fast food meal that can be bought. You must learn to say no to these things and avoid situations in which you may feel tempted to partake in these up sized orders.

To be truly successful when dieting you need to embrace the process as building a healthier you rather than depriving yourself of something. Do not think of your weigh loss plan as something negative but rather a positive force in your life to make changes for the better. When you have negative thoughts do not direct them at your diet. When you feel deprived remind yourself that you are depriving your bones of carrying around that excess weight. Remind yourself that you are depriving your wardrobe of those bulky clothes that are designed to hide the bulges. Remind yourself that you are depriving your body of years of bulges and bringing back the body of your youth.

Do not get so caught up in the dieting process that you forget to enjoy some of the goodies that life has to offer. Watching your weight and counting your calories does not mean that you can never go over your allotment. The goal however is to find balance. If you learn to portion your food correctly, indulge in moderation, and incorporate enjoyable calorie burning activities into your daily routine you may be amazed at the results.

Dieting for weight loss and health is only depriving if you allow it to be. If you cannot control yourself when it comes to indulging then by all means avoid indulging. However, if you can learn to incorporate those small treats into your routine in moderation and burn those extra calories as well, then you should find yourself a much happier and more successful ‘dieter’ than you have ever managed to be in the past.

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