Ever wonder why obesity is so difficult to reverse?
I recently learned that in order to START making change, one’s emotions must be mobilized. For this to happen, two factors have to be in place: a PUSH factor (as in, I cannot tolerate being in this place any more) and a PULL factor (I really see myself in a better place). Either of these alone is, unfortunately, not enough. So whereas the first part is true for anyone who has ever wished they weighed less than they do, the second part is more complicated. Lots of people cannot imagine themselves weighing less — their dream has disintegrated because they’ve spent years failing at every approach they’ve tried.
Now, that’s just to get started. Then, in order to MAINTAIN change, one’s social environment must be supportive. I don’t mean just friendly. I mean the whole team has to be on board. You must surround yourself with other like-minded people. (Weight Watchers and Overeaters Anonymous come to mind.) A lot has to line up right to change behaviors. Everyone has to agree not to buy processed American cheese slices or granola bars with 64 ingredients anymore. This can be complicated.
Changing one’s eating patterns is hard enough to begin with, but it’s even more difficult to do alone. Recent research has shown that people tend to surround themselves with other similar-weight people. Obese people have more obese friends; slender people have more slender friends. Does that mean you have to find different friends? No it does not. No wonder it’s so difficult to lose weight.
Just to be clear, I am talking about food choices and activity levels. Not diet and exercise.
In our society, we view obesity as due to overindulgence. We see fat people as having failed themselves in some fundamental way. We consider our overweight selves as weak, as unable to control our desires. That’s pretty bad. To me, that’s heartbreaking.
It speaks to our fallacious view of obesity as being caused by overindulgence. If this were true (which I do not believe), then the solution would be denial. Denial is a logical response to overindulgence. That is, you’ve been eating too much, so you should simply stop. But this doesn’t work; we all know that any attempt to change one’s eating patterns that is BASED on denial is doomed from the start. We tend to attribute this failure to some inherent weakness on the part of the obese individual, even though two-thirds of us are now in this situation. As my dear family would say, “What’s wrong with this picture?”
I recently learned that in order to START making change, one’s emotions must be mobilized. For this to happen, two factors have to be in place: a PUSH factor (as in, I cannot tolerate being in this place any more) and a PULL factor (I really see myself in a better place). Either of these alone is, unfortunately, not enough. So whereas the first part is true for anyone who has ever wished they weighed less than they do, the second part is more complicated. Lots of people cannot imagine themselves weighing less — their dream has disintegrated because they’ve spent years failing at every approach they’ve tried.
Now, that’s just to get started. Then, in order to MAINTAIN change, one’s social environment must be supportive. I don’t mean just friendly. I mean the whole team has to be on board. You must surround yourself with other like-minded people. (Weight Watchers and Overeaters Anonymous come to mind.) A lot has to line up right to change behaviors. Everyone has to agree not to buy processed American cheese slices or granola bars with 64 ingredients anymore. This can be complicated.
Changing one’s eating patterns is hard enough to begin with, but it’s even more difficult to do alone. Recent research has shown that people tend to surround themselves with other similar-weight people. Obese people have more obese friends; slender people have more slender friends. Does that mean you have to find different friends? No it does not. No wonder it’s so difficult to lose weight.
Just to be clear, I am talking about food choices and activity levels. Not diet and exercise.
In our society, we view obesity as due to overindulgence. We see fat people as having failed themselves in some fundamental way. We consider our overweight selves as weak, as unable to control our desires. That’s pretty bad. To me, that’s heartbreaking.
It speaks to our fallacious view of obesity as being caused by overindulgence. If this were true (which I do not believe), then the solution would be denial. Denial is a logical response to overindulgence. That is, you’ve been eating too much, so you should simply stop. But this doesn’t work; we all know that any attempt to change one’s eating patterns that is BASED on denial is doomed from the start. We tend to attribute this failure to some inherent weakness on the part of the obese individual, even though two-thirds of us are now in this situation. As my dear family would say, “What’s wrong with this picture?”
What’s wrong is that overindulgence is not the core cause of obesity. It is time we understood that. Any attempt to lose weight through a system based on denial will eventually fail. Our society is a grand experiment in this phenomenon. To me, the saddest part of this incorrect assumption is that people who have failed over and over again to lose weight internalize their failed attempts and they usually consider themselves failures. Just ask.
Failure to lose weight through the approach of denial is not the individual person’s fault. It’s because this appro
ach is based on a faulty premise. It’s incorrect at its source. It may seem logical to try to lose weight by planning to cut your food consumption, but if this is the only change you make, your chances of success are slim at best.
So what is the alternative? How do I understand obesity? I see obesity as a malnourished state. That, I believe, is the reason why so many obese people complain of being unable to control their appetites. When else might a person’s appetite seem out of proportion to their weight? When they are thin and malnourished. What is the logical response to being malnourished? To eat. But not just anything that happens to be in the cabinet.
The solution is to increase the nutritional density of the foods you choose, to improve the quality of your food, to eat “real” food. Avocadoes, nuts, olives. Guacamole, peanut butter, olive oil. And to stay away from anything labeled light, lite, quick, diet, or instant. That’s the last thing you need if you’re malnourished.
Now, to answer the question I posed above, no, you don’t need to find different friends. Instead, you need to bring enough guacamole for everyone. With slices of celery, carrots, and peppers for scooping, instead of chips. And it’s okay if not everybody likes it. What’s important is that you like it. The more you eat, the fewer food-like manufactured calories you will eat. And the less hungry you will feel. Your friends may begin to feel differently once they see your pants loosening up.
One last thing. My favorite from among Michael Pollan’s food rules is this one: When you eat real food, you don’t need rules.
Now, to answer the question I posed above, no, you don’t need to find different friends. Instead, you need to bring enough guacamole for everyone. With slices of celery, carrots, and peppers for scooping, instead of chips. And it’s okay if not everybody likes it. What’s important is that you like it. The more you eat, the fewer food-like manufactured calories you will eat. And the less hungry you will feel. Your friends may begin to feel differently once they see your pants loosening up.
One last thing. My favorite from among Michael Pollan’s food rules is this one: When you eat real food, you don’t need rules.
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