Holistic weight reduction - Part3 - Psychological preparation for weight reduction

The commonest reason for failure in a weight reduction program is the fact that the candidate does not undergo an appropriate psychological preparation. Those who expect miraculous weight losses as promised by most advertisements on television commercials are bound to be disappointed because participation in most weight reduction programs have resulted in wallets getting slimmer faster than bodies! There is no way in which the adipose tissue mass of an adult person whose average pre-program daily expenditure of Calories is not above 2400, can be safely lowered by more than 2 pounds (loss of 8200 Calories from fat stores) in a week. That conclusion is based on sound energy dynamics and the fundamental nature of the universe, as we know it today through the laws of conservation of mass and energy. So expectations must be carefully explained by health professionals and adequately understood by their clients.

Secondly, to keep adipose tissue weight reduced for the rest of his/her life, the individual must expect to change eating habits on a permanent basis rather than for a short period. Adoption of a regular scheme of exercise also becomes important, because increasing energy expenditure through increased physical activity is the most assured way of creating a sustainable reduction of adipose tissue mass. Since the body reduces the basal metabolic rate when food intake goes down and thus becomes more efficient as an energy producing entity, there will not be the expected or even a more accurately calculated weight loss if daily exercise is not part of a weight reduction program.

If a tendency to depression is a personality trait of the individual who is overweight, it becomes even more important to alert the patient not to be over-expectant about weight loss. Such individuals become obsessive down to the last milligram about the lack of weight loss and may react to such a situation with a backlash of binge eating and complaints that ‘he or she could not help it’! Such individuals may require psychological counseling or medication to control their mood swings before they can effectively lose weight.

Medical Evaluation
In addition to an assessment of the psychological factors already mentioned it is essential, before any attempt is made to lose more than a few pounds, to exclude medical conditions that may be responsible for weight gain especially if weight loss seems difficult to attain. An indolent thyroid gland, unrecognized abdominal tumors and sub-clinical fluid retention due injudicious use of soft drinks, or because of latent kidney, liver or heart disease must be excluded before weight reduction by caloric control is undertaken. Weight gain secondary to hypertrophy of muscle mass related to excessive weight lifting is unlikely to be confused with adipose tissue weight gain, but increased appetite caused by exercise if left uncontrolled may finally lead to adipose tissue weight gain which can go unrecognized.

About the Author : Abe Kurien MD, is a proponent of holistic medicine. He writes profusely on subjects of Weight reduction. His enlightening articles can be found on the smatix weight reduction section : Health and Nutrition Resources