It was an interesting presentation that can be summarized as an excellent visual representation of why sustaining weight loss is a difficult task to master. I would suggest watching the video- it's worth the 10 minutes of your life it takes.
As someone who has experienced massive weight loss and is now entering my second year of maintenance (which I am personally defining as not varying outside of my end weight by more than 10% above or below), I'm always a little surprised to hear the statistics of weight regain patterns. While there is no doubt that evidence indicates that many people struggle with maintaining long term weight loss, it seems so glaringly strange to me that I should have so little struggle doing so. Moreover, of the six other people personally know who have loss in excess of 30% of their starting body weight, all of us are holding steady within pretty close ranges to where we left off in our weight loss endeavours.
We all did things differently. Some focused on diet mainly, while others (like myself) put the emphasis on physical activity; some used a weight loss program, while others 'winged it'. For some, weight loss was the actual goal. For others, it was the consequence of other, unrelated goals.
But the end result is the same: each of us lost a significant amount of weight, at least 12 months ago, and all of us have managed to keep that weight off.
Of course, I also know dozens of people (possibly even "most"people) have had different experiences. Many have lost weight only to have it come back, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly over the course of time. Are we physiologically different? Science would say no. Is the distinction between us 'how' or 'why' or 'when' we changed our habits? Again, I would say no.
Which leads me to conclude that there is something else at play. And, in a roundabout way, Dr. Sharma nails it in his presentation. Of course, he doesn't know that he is doing it.
The one thing we all seem to have in common is this: We still do, to a large extent, the exact things that we did that resulted in our original weight loss. And we do them, as often as possible, because we love them. In my case, I went from enjoying walking, to enjoying running, to wanting to learn how to swim again, to wanting to learn how to actually bike. And now, I'm five weeks out of a 70.6mi triathlon, around two years from when this all really started.
For those who skipped the video (seriously, please watch it. It's a good one!), the premise is simple. Sharma uses a tension band and a volunteer to explain how difficult it is to maintain the habits that lead to significant weight loss. By representing both diet and exercise as 'tensions' on this band, and asking the volunteer to hold it 'indefinitely', we can see how continuing to exert resistance against constant forces is difficult, and- in some cases- near impossible.
That said, the presentation felt bleak. He described it as 'depressing'. Personally, I describe it as incomplete.
See, here's what he missed: No one in their right mind wants to hold a tension band like that indefinitely. What a terrible fate that would be. It is restrictive, it is exhausting, and it serves absolutely no purpose. It is the perfect analogy in so many ways, but he didn't fully explain why...
To sustain long-term behaviour change, whether it is changing your diet, increasing your exercise load, being less sedentary, kicking a bad habit like smoking, or starting a new one like making your bed, you need to create patterns that can be easily sustained for the rest of your life.
Yeah, I know that sounds scary. And that's the problem. We've convinced the world that any sort of permanent change is not only hard (which, it definitely can be) but also 'scary' (which it often actually isn't) And since we so heavily associate fear with negative emotions, we get overwhelmed at the idea of doing something forever.
Think about it. How few things in this life do we take on that are actually forever.
In many (most) cases, we leave ourselves an exit strategy whenever possible.
But we don't always take the exit lane.
Why not? Becomes there are some things in our life that are so totally awesome that we don't ever want to give them up!
For some, its their marriage. For others, their children. For others, their pets, their homes, their hobbies...most of us have thing in our life that evoke such strong passion that we would never ever want to 'exit' away from them.
And when you are that motivated by your passion or love for something, the fear of it being forever begins to fade, and it gets replaced by hope.
I hope this never goes away. I hope things can stay like this forever.
Hope is a lot more motivating that fear.
Going back to our tension band example, I wonder how differently the experiment would have been if we had asked the volunteer what their favourite activity in the world was. Skiing? Surfing? Lying on a beach? Cooking new foods? Playing with their kids? Snuggling with their spouse?
And if we had asked them then: "Do you think you could do that, most of the time, forever?" I wonder if their answer wouldn't have been a lot more positive.
Perhaps we would have heard some reservations or restraint: I don't really want to do the same thing, all the time, for the rest of my life...no matter how much I love it.
I get you. I wouldn't want to either.
What if I told you that you could do different pleasurable, enjoyable things that bring you happiness and joy, in varying combinations...would you be ok with that situation lasting forever?
I supposed you could find a few people who would still push back, but I suspect that they are few and far between.
And this is exactly how we need to start talking about diet and exercise/physical activity.
Eating food that makes your body feel great isn't a punishment. Moving your body in fun, exciting ways isn't a punishment. Both of these are actually super rewarding things that are easy to embrace once you have wrapped your head around the concept that they can bring you joy.
And it is infinitely easier to do this when we add in the variety component. "Healthy" food and movement choices abound. There are literally millions of different ways to eat and move your body that are safe, positive, and healthful. The sky is literally the limit when it comes to the possibilities.
But that's not what we tell fat people. We tell fat people that they are undeserving of happiness unless they reduce their body size. And then we tell them that they don't have the strength or discipline or character to reduce their body size.
And while we may not intend to do it, as a society, we are literally creating the problem by perpetuating myths about body weight, weight loss and weight management that just aren't true.
We prescribe super restrictive diets, knowing full well that restrictions of this nature fail.
We prescribe super intimidating, 'daily' exercise regimes that are (often) boring, and generic, failing to tap into the individual's inner motivations and drives.
We tell people that deprivation is the only way, and "coach" them out of simple pleasures on the pretence that these things are inherently "bad".
And we do all of this while reenforcing the archaic belief that there is only one acceptable body type, and that the vastness of the human experience can be summarized by the numbers on a scale or the ratio of fat on your body.
We do this, despite the fact that science has been telling us for a really, really long time that this is ineffective.
It's been telling us that these practices are harmful.
It's been telling us that the 'tension band method' is actually backfiring catastrophically.
So, in that sense, Dr. Sharma is right. We need a paradigm shift on obesity, because what we have been doing isn't working.
But where I disagree with him is what that paradigm shift looks like.
Instead of talking about what individuals have to lose, we need to start talking about what we have to gain by making positive, meaningful, passionate changes in our every day routines.
Because adding activites and habits into our lives that bring us passion and joy, and encourage our body to work the way that it wants to is an experience of growth, not loss.
So let's stop asking ourselves what we need to cut out of our lives and start talking about what we need more of.
Does your diet need tweaking? Try adding more vegetables! If you eat them first, and listen to your body, the odds are pretty strong that you won't need to eat more servings of dessert than just the one.
But can you still eat dessert? Of course you can! And you should. Food is supposed to be pleasurable.
Do you spend a lot of time sitting down? Don't worry about sitting 'less'- just try walking a little bit more. Maybe an extra 100 steps a day? Maybe taking the stairs instead? A little bit more can go a very long way, and you'll surprise yourself by how quickly 100 steps turns into 1000!
Do you love to dance? Ski? Swim? We all have a few activities that are intensely appealing to us. I bet you already know where I am going with this: do them more. Seriously. Put time aside in your life for the things that make you feel fantastic! Not only do you deserve it, but it will serve you tenfold in terms of your mental health and stress levels.
So, what if your favourite hobby isn't active? Do more of it anyway. Don't do things for the calorie burn. Do them because you want to do them. Life is too short to not do the things you love.
But ask yourself this: Are there any things that are active that I've always wanted to try?
Do those too. Try them all. Check out that Zumba class. Find out what it feels like to throw an axe.
Learn how to ride a bike. Find a way to move that seems like fun. And if it isn't- if you genuinely hate it- walk away and don't look back. Again, life is too short to waste your time on activities that you hate.
Don't want to do it alone? Find a friend! Don't have a friend in person who can help? Find an online group! Can't afford it? Check out free programs or talk to your local YMCA (most have access programs for low income families). Need help connecting with resources? Hit me up with a comment and I'll see how I can help. I have some mad google skills. ;)
So, what about all those 'recommendations' that professionals give us?
I know. There's one final point I need to hit. Dr. Sharma tells us to talk to professionals (though he glaringly forgets to mention exercise specialists, who are probably infinitely more helpful here than a GP would be...). And he's right. I say that it's probably a good idea to listen to the medical and scientific community and follow their guidelines, to a large extent. But that doesn't mean that you can't find fun, meaningful ways to follow them. And it doesn't mean you have to leap in, head first, and do them all at once.
Remember, health is a whole body process. Weight is one way that your body indicates to you that its environment might need some tweaking. But it necessarily tell you that, and it hardly ever tells you the whole story.
I can't speak for everyone, but I feel confident speaking for myself: I'd far rather run, swim, cycle and dance for the rest of my life than hold a tension band. And the more time I spend doing those things, the less time I ever think about how much I weigh.
Changing one thing about your life for the better is a step in the right direction! Even if that one thing is as simple as lowering your stress level by balancing your bank accounts once a week so that you feel more in control and in charge. Even if you only do it once, it's better than never having done it. But remember that forever is only scary if you are being asked to do things that you hate.
Just do you.
Do your happy. Do your joyful. Take risks. Be daring. Be hopeful.
The rest will follow.
"Forever" is actually a really short time. Make the most of it, while you're here.
