Barriers to Weight Loss…What’s Your Solution?

Today I was meeting with one of my weight loss patients and he was extremely discouraged because he hasn’t lost any weight in the past two weeks… and he has a lot of weight to lose. It always seems to be easier said than done, right? He knows that it would be better for his health to eat a cup of strawberries instead of a box of cookies. However, he also stated he hadn’t tried to accomplish any of his goals that we set two weeks ago, yet he is so embarrassed by his weight and “tired of being fat.”

So where do you start? 

I use one of the same quotes every day to help motivate my patients… “If you want something you don’t currently have, you are going to have to do something you aren’t currently doing.”

There are always excuses and obstacles. The challenge is how can I help motivate the individuals that I work with in the MIDST of his perceived barriers? No matter who you are, we all have them and we need to learn how to achieve our desired results despite our unique challenges.

My recommendations:

1. Take ownership of what you can control. Maybe someone else is doing the grocery shopping, but they aren’t forcing you to eat their food. Can you request substitutions to the grocery list? Or maybe you don’t have time to cook meals because of your school or work schedule. You can still plan and prepare meals in advance on the weekends.
2. Start where you are. Find the small changes you can make and start doing them. If you drink whole milk, switch to 1%. Don’t exercise at all? Commit to just 10 minutes per day.  You can’t suddenly change everything , but you can change something. Start today.
3. Find your motivation. Why do you want to be healthy and are you ready to change? Everyone’s motivation is different, what is important is to know yourself and understand why it is necessary to begin changing your lifestyle. Do you want to be a better role model for your children? Are you tired of feeling tired? Do you want to lower your cholesterol? Write down what motivates you and look at it…every day.
4. Look at your week as a whole. Rather than attempting to always eat a “perfect” meal and then feeling like a failure when that doesn’t happen, look at your week as a whole. Overall, are you increasing your healthy habits and achieving your goals? Then that is an improvement!
5. Write down your realistic goals. Goals should be realistic, measurable, and specific. Rather than say “I am going to drink more water,” say “I’m going to drink 2 glasses of water every day before 10 a.m.” Goals become habits and habits become lifestyles.

What motivates you? Please share…I’d love to hear from you!