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| | Setting Goals for the New Year |
Hello,
The New Year is here, and some think this is a time for New Year Resolutions. Did you know that the average resolution lasts just a couple of weeks? Weight loss is the most common resolution -- use to be to quit smoking. But with the LAP-BAND setting a resolution isn't the issue-- because you have the most modern bio-feedback device that will allow you to lose weight.
No longer do you have to worry about "diets," or "willpower." There are a few behaviors to change, and instead of setting resolutions, it is our time to set some goals.
Did you ever watch those television commercials with some weight loss product. At the bottom of the screen (usually below the blonde joggin on the beach) it says "Results not typical." With the band, results are typical. So, read on about the new habits.
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This Month's Support Group |  This month we have two support groups -- January 13th and January 22nd. Both are at 6:30 p.m. at Surgical Specialty Hospital. So, if you cannot make it to one, make it to another.
This month we will be talking about "goal setting for the new year." I thought this month was nutrition, but that is next month.
What is different between resolutions and goal settings. It seems like most New Year's resolutions is a "wish list." The difference between setting a goal, that can be measured, and making the NYR (New Year's Resolution) is that with a goal we have something we can measure.
The goal setting is more than "weight loss," instead it is a critical look at behaviors that work with weight loss.
For example: This year I am going to go to one new restaurant a month that has a healthy food and see if I can find a new, healthy food. This is a goal. It can be met, it can be planned for, it brings pleasure, and charted.
Another example: This year I am going to measure the portion of my food every Monday and Thursday to see how well I am doing at eating my volume of food. Again, something that you can plan for, something you can measure.
We find specific behaviors that we can do, that we would enjoy, that will allow us to maintain, or lose weight.
Things that are too ill-defined do not seem to work. A bad example is, "I want to lose the last 30 pounds." That is a wish -- that is not a goal. To be a goal there needs to be something that you can do, that you want to do, that you can measure, that you can quantitate, and that you want to do. The result of your goal will be the final product.
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If you are not losing the weight, I'll bet you are not measuring your portions |  As the weight loss stops, or plateaus, there is typically one reason: not measuring the food.
The band IS NOT about "restriction," the band is about eating a small amount of food and allowing the band to work. The band's job is to dim the appetite, the band's job is not to stop you from eating.
So, the one simple resolution this year, to help get you and keep you on your path is to measure everything.
Here are a few traps that people get into:
(a) Thinking the band will stop them when they are full and waiting for that
(b) Eating out and slowly finishing a full portion
(c) Getting the band so tight that many foods cannot be eaten, and only soft foods can
(d) Playing with the band -- having it lose for vacations, cruises, and other outings and wanting it tighter for other times -- yes, there are patients who do this (they think we don't know). The weight loss for patients with this is minimal.
(e) Relying on the eyes to tell what a portion is
If you are serious about losing weight, serious enough to get the band, then be serious enough to measure everything. If you find that when you measure the food that you are satisfied to the next meal -- great, your band is adjusted well.
If you find, however, that the small portion doesn't last you -- then it is time to get your band adjusted. Do not think that your band will adjust to keep you from eating more-- it won't. What the band will do is adjust so that if you eat a small amount of food it will keep your appetite in check.
Most of our long-term successful patients also tell us that they cannot trust their eyes. Here these folks are, years after their band was placed, finding that if they don't measure, their eyes will deceive them and they end up eating more than they should.
So, remember -- no more than 3-4 ounces of protein (meat, fish, poultry, or tofu) and nor more than 6 ounces of vegetables for lunch and dinner. You can eat less, that is ok. But measure those foods out for the next couple of weeks, and see how well you do.
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| Our job is to help you lose the weight and keep it off. If you can't make it to support group this month, we understand. But use this time to write down one or two changes you can make that will facilitate your weight loss.
Let me suggest one -- measure everything. Do not trust your stomach, do not trust your band, do not trust your eyes. Measure it all.
If you go out to eat a lot -- tell the waiter what you want -- and tell them to measure it in the back and serve it to you in the size you want. You are buying the food, and they are more than happy to do it for you.
If you are serious about weight loss, serious enough to have the band -- be serious enough to measure.
And remember -- measuring the food is by volume, not weight.
Sincerely, 
Terry Simpson
Southwest Weight Loss |
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