All Weight Loss is Not Equal

All Weight Loss is Not Equal

Dick and Jane begin a weight loss program at the same time. Each loses about 80 pounds to reach their respective goal. However, there is a dramatic difference in how each looks, which in turn will greatly affect how each feels. This feeling, good or bad or indifferent, will impact on how each will interact with his or her environment. Therefore, even though each has lost 80 pounds, all weight loss is not equal.

As has been suggested in the past, there are many ways to skin a cat. There are also many ways to lose 80 pounds. Low-carb, raw food, high protein, surgical, or all natural. In this article, we briefly look at the experiences of two individuals, Dick and Jane as we will refer to them here.

Dick, opted for bariatric surgery after consultation with his doctor. He lost his 80 pounds, but when he looks into the mirror he feels self-conscious about the way his skin sags and his overall physical appearance. Part of what happened was that his skin had essentially stretched to accommodate the additional weight. But, because he lost it in what his body likely interpreted as ‘less than natural’ way, his body did not make the necessary adjustments.

One of the major tradeoffs with some surgical weight loss procedures is that a second surgery is required to tighten up the loose, hanging skin as in the above example of Dick. I have worked with a few of these clients and the prospect of facing an additional surgery is sometimes a terrifying and depressing idea.

Jane, on the other hand, lost her 80 pounds in a non-surgical, slower, more natural process. Here, she learned to understand how she actually loses weight, how different categories of macronutrients affect her weight, the importance of water in weight loss and detoxification. Jane also learned that exercise did not have to dominate her life.

Jane learned that managing stress and really looking at how her life, her values, and her goals were connected to her former struggles with weight. In the end, Jane is likely to have a more natural, gradual, and healthier-looking body at the end of the 80 pound loss, which is likely to result in her being more confident about everything in her life.

Change for humans is to a large degree a function of modifying behavior. Change is also one of the most challenging things any of us will ever do as adults. This is why these slow, sometimes very slow, lessons learned by Jane are likely to have been ingrained or programmed into her way of being. In other words, the changes are more likely to have become part of her lifestyle.

Whereas, for Dick, the opportunity to learn most of the same lessons in this more effective manner was not available. Why? Because the opportunity to ‘practice’ each was not at the center of his experience because of the nature of his weight loss, surgical versus behavioral.

Choose the path that will result in your confidence soaring higher for it will be the path that you will stay on more consistently. Good luck.

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