Change is A Daily Choice

I am one of millions of Americans who are overweight. I have tried dieting, and two years ago, I even lost over fifty pounds. Unfortunately, like so many others who have had major weight loss, I have regained almost all of it, mostly over the past year.

I am a physician. I counsel patients regarding diet and exercise. Yet, here I am, significantly overweight, feeling just as frustrated and defeated as any other dieter who has fallen off the wagon. Knowledge may be power, but it won’t prevent the fork from reaching my mouth when I am overeating. Knowledge, if anything, is like a thorn in my side - I know the dangers of obesity, yet that knowledge is not enough to compel lasting weight loss. For as long as I continue to succumb to emotional triggers for overeating, I will be overweight.

Dieting is difficult. Numerous diet programs and diet products claim to make the process easier, even fun. These programs and supplements do not alter the fact that dieting involves altering eating patterns that have taken a lifetime to establish. Avoidance of entire food groups, taking supplements to kick-start metabolism, substituting shakes for meals - admittedly, these may work in the short run. But, as they don’t address two of the most critical problems dieters face, they are not likely to be successful in the long run. Without seriously and repeatedly addressing emotional triggers for overeating and portion control, even the most sensible diet plans are destined to fail.

Emotional triggers for overeating are numerous. Sadness, loneliness, stress, anger, frustration, low self-esteem - there are many triggers for which food provides comfort. Identifying the triggers and learning new coping strategies, this requires effort and commitment, as well as as a support system. And it takes time. My trigger is the sheer amount of weight I need to lose. If I dwell on it, I become so nervous that I crave food, any food, to blunt the anxiety. Talking about self-defeating.

And then there is portion control. Portion control after almost two decades of unlimited portions is not easy, no matter how you slice it. Implementing said control takes planning. Portions listed on the package or in recipes are smaller, sometimes far smaller, than an “eat until I’m full” portion. The standard now becomes eat until just satisfied. That takes learning, especially when one is a fast eater -its easy to miss just satisfied when one shovels down ones food. Like I do, for example.

Controlling emotionally-triggered overeating and exercising portion control, these are lifestyle changes that need to last a lifetime. My fears are standing right behind those changes.

So, just for today, I will choose to diet. I will not think of the enormity of the task in the long term, I will think of what needs to be done for these 24 hours only.

Just for today, I will choose to change my lifestyle. I will eat for nourishment, not for comfort. I will eat enough to meet my nutritional needs, not to fill my belly.

Tomorrow, I will be faced with those same choices. But, just for today, I choose not to worry about tomorrow.

©2005 Kathleen M. Wooton, M.D.