Some Thoughts on Weight Loss For The New Year

If losing weight is your Resolution, see this…

Now stay with me – even if you find my words offensive or make you mad.

People often ask me what is one key to losing weight.   Will power?   Is it giving up sugar?   Positive thinking?

Some of you may remember me talking about when I was once 50 pounds overweight.   I had some “sympathy weight gain” during my wife’s first pregnancy.

But if I had to lose weight again here’s what I’d do…
Before I tell you, I’ll start by describing the difference in how I see how overweight people think about food.

In meeting with others, I’ve found that the act of eating takes on a importance.   It’s not just a “grab a bite to eat” or “nosh”.   Instead, it becomes a time of great pleasure.   The taste of the food becomes the focus, instead of quality or nutritious value.

So for lack of a better word, the individual can form an “addiction” to the pleasurable act of eating.   Taste/pleasure becomes the ultimate goal, with health taking a happy second or third in the priority.

Now don’t get me wrong, I experience the desire to eat fun foods too.   But over the years, in my mind, I have learned how to decrease the importance of food and focus less on the taste and the pleasure associated with it.   When I’m feeling the need to take a junk food binge, I mentally lower the importance of eating.   By decreasing the importance of food below another task, such as blogging, or playing an online game, the activity usually gets me through the feeling.
At other times, I eat something small, just to get the act of eating out of the way.

On the flip side, you can raise the importance of some of daily activities to where they are above eating.   Focusing in on a goal you are passionate about can reduce hunger.   If you are consumed with your goal, eating can become an inconvenience.   A busy mind doesn’t get hungry.

So, to conclude, if there was one way to think about food, I’d recommend 3 ways:

1   Put food back in it’s place.   It’s not as important as it may feel.

2   Get busy.   If you are getting hungry in between meals, you might not be busy enough.   Your mind may need more activity.

3   If you feel you are placing a lot of importance on eating, then admitting to the problem can be beneficial.   If you are focusing more on the pleasure of eating than the “nature” of it, perhaps being conscious of it is enough.   Most people don’t like feeling addicted to a substance or act.   Reminding yourself of the pleasure you get from food and how it’s a trick   can be very effective at helping to get a handle on it.

Becoming aware can also open your eyes to new opportunities to replace eating with other pleasures.   Benjamin Franklin used to replace his desire to eat to excess by slowly chewing on a small piece of bread while reading a book.   I know some people who take a 30 minute brisk walk at lunch before they eat.   By the time they return, a sandwich is enough.

Overall, I’d stress the act of decreasing the importance of food and working toward minimizing the feeling of pleasure associated with eating was key to my weight loss, hope it helps others too.