Day 114 - Assessing Dr. Phil's New Weight Loss Solution

After mentioning Dr. Phil in my previous post, I happened to see this item on WebMd's website Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weightloss Solution It is a review of the Dr. Phil's new book. My assessment is "well, duh!" No really, after reading tons of weight loss books including Dr. Phil's first venture into weight loss, I really do not think there is any thing anybody else can teach me about weight loss. I think most people who are obese and overweight all can say the same thing. There is nothing we don't know. We know what puts the weight on and we know what it is going to take to take it off. It is just getting our minds ready to do it because it really is an issue of MIND OVER MATTER. I do not think I would have been successful with the Medi Weightloss plan had my mind not been in the right place. You really have to know that there is going to be sacrifice...great sacrifice to be successful and you really have to be ready for it. I knew if I was going to embark on another weight loss journey, i would have to be really ready mentally. I knew my favorite foods were going have to become no longer favorites because they were the things that helped me put the weight on and kept it on. Now that I am almost at goal, I do not even want to go back to eating the way I did before. I have already made up my mind that there are foods that are just going to have to stay off limits to me and avoid them totally and some foods will have to be eaten rarely. My main diet is going to continue to be low in carbohydrates and free of wheat/gluten products. Processed foods will also be kept to rare-to-none. I will mainly eat lean protein and low-glycemic vegetables and fruit. I find I no longer crave certain things and I'm just going to keep it that way. This week, I should reach my goal at Medi and I will be given the plan for maintenance and be able to slowly introduce some foods that have been off limits. I'm a little apprehensive coming off the Acute Phase of the program but I know with the guidance of the counselors I will be fine.

According to the WebMD article Dr. Phil's book outlines 7 steps to weight loss freedom. I am sharing them with you because they articulate the exact princples that I believe will lead to successful weight loss and maintenance.
1. Right Thinking: Get rid of self-defeating thought patterns, believe that you will succeed, and you will have mastered the first key necessary to overcoming your struggles with your weight.
2. Healing Feelings: Make choices that stop the cycle of emotional eating that has perpetuated your weight problem. Don't let stress, anxiety, or depression lead you to self-medicate with food. Change your emotional response to life's problems, and the unwanted eating behaviors that flow from it, and you can change. He instructs readers in how to identify the "payoff" you get from overeating and addressing those negative feelings -- getting emotional closure, so you stop self-defeating habits, says Dr. Phil.
3. A No-Fail Environment: You must program your environment in every possible way to avoid binge foods and reminders to eat.
4. Mastery Over Food and Impulse Eating: "Did you binge or overeat for one reason, such as a betrayal, a job loss, an illness, some personal tragedy, and you've kept on doing it as a matter of habit? Your pounds came on quickly, but the trouble is, they stayed because you are overeating habitually, whether you are hungry or not," writes Dr. Phil.
5. High-Response Cost, High-Yield Foods: This is Dr. Phil's way of saying, "eat high-fiber and other nutritious and filling foods - whole grains, lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, dried beans." It also implies eating foods that take time and effort to fix, require lots of chewing, and aren't fast food or other convenience foods.
6. Intentional Exercise: "Regular, intentional exercise is a big deal, a huge deal," writes Dr. Phil. "It unlocks the door to body control - a state of fitness in which your body is metabolically geared for losing weight and keeping it off, and is flowing with energy and vitality People who successfully manage their weight and stay fit exercise as a matter of habit."
7. Your Circle of Support: "Weight loss is not a do-it-yourself deal," he writes. "If you expect to lose weight and keep it off, you must build and nurture relationships that affirm and uplift you in life-changing ways. There is strength and power in support."

The most important of the above to me are Number 7 (Circle of Support). I had wonderful support at Medi and meeting one on one with the counselors provided the psychological support as well as the nutrition education necessary to be successful which also encompases number 4 and 5 (Mastery of Food and High Response Cost High Yield Foods). Numbers 1-3 are really up to the individual to take care of and get their mindset ready to tackle their weight loss issue.

While some people might dismiss Dr. Phil as a quack, etc. and this is not meant to be promotion for his book but rather it is confirmation for me that I did everything right and that all the books I have read in the past have actually contained advice that does work in getting the weight off had I been mentally ready to lose the weight.