By Barbara Berkeley
Arguably, the idea of change was the most prominent theme of 2008. As politicians on both the right and left recited the change mantra, a country that had become disenchanted with the status quo responded.
In life, as in politics, it’s all too easy to let things go unexamined. In order to make progress, we’ve all got to take stock periodically and – like cleaning out our closets – we need to throw out the stuff that just isn’t working.
One of the things I’ve noticed as the Oprah discussion continues is the degree to which we repeat the same old saws about weight loss. This particular conversation seems to be centered largely on a single theme: when Oprah cares enough about herself to fix the problem, she will do so. As I’ve written previously, the implication seems to be that Oprah doesn’t love herself enough. Now this is a strange notion when one considers that Oprah has established a vast empire, has done enormous good and is one of the most efficacious people on the planet. I wonder whether insisting that people love themselves more can solve anything or provide any real guidance? It seems to me that we learn to like ourselves more when we succeed at the tasks we set for ourselves. So perhaps if weight is a thorny problem, we need to find new, practical ways to get around this issue. Once we’ve worked on these, we’ll probably feel better about ourselves, not the other way around.
If we can reinvent government, if we can reinvent the way we interact with the world, can’t we reinvent the way we look at weight, weight loss and maintenance? I believe that we need to get a lot more creative if we are ever to have a shot at controlling our exploding worldwide problem. We are also going to have to listen better to new ideas and to stop shooting them down immediately if they don’t conform to what we’ve heard before.
To show you just how stagnant our weight-loss conversation has become, I’d like to offer Exhibit A: a series of photos I’ve taken from just a few of my favorite magazine covers. I started collecting these covers, ones that suggest that you “Walk Off the Weight!”, about a year ago. In this short time, I have accumulated more than 20. If simply walking off the weight worked, why hasn’t everyone conquered his or her weight problem? Instead of looking for a new idea, however, magazines simply recycle the same old stuff, even using the same words! To make matters ever so much worse, they pair the message with enormous pictures of, well, take a look.
Here are some of the other recycled diet dictums that need serious re-examination:
1. Diets don’t work.
Oh no? A diet is simply an organized plan for eating. Having a plan is the ONLY thing that works!
2. Everything in moderation.
Just look at the eating and work-out plans of successful maintainers. They are determined, scheduled and rarely could be called “moderate.”
3. Just exercise more and eat less.
You can see my post on IBM if you’d like my opinion on this one.
4. Some magical element will cause weight loss (acai berries, diet pills, omega fats, green tea, vitamin supplements, CLA, ALLI…you name it)
In nearly 20 years of interviewing overweight patients, not a single one has ever told me that they lost significant weight by using a “potion.” It always comes down to sustained dietary choice.
So, dear friends, let’s resolve to approach our lifelong battle with a new resolution. For 2009, let’s vow to think outside of the box! Lynn and I will continue to provide the forum for your brilliant ideas and insights. Here’s to a year of creative thinking, positive achievement and real change!