Down the Rabbit Hole

Bite This: It's almost 2020. 

Bueller? Bueller? I am not even sure anyone is still here.

Whatever, I am back, baby! Okay, just for today because I don’t have a lot going on at work and I need to look like I am working. Honest, right?

Almost the start of a new year, a new decade even! Every new year I write about resolutions because notably one of the top ten resolutions is to get in shape, or lose weight, or get fit…. same idea. As a dietitian, I feel as though it is my duty to write about these new year resolutions, but after a few years of doing so, I am starting to think does it really matter what I say?

What I have discovered in my seven years of weight loss research – literally research – is that anyone can lose weight and except for Carl, everyone thinks they know how. But very few can sustain that weight loss over a 2- year period. And even fewer can sustain it over a 5-year period. So maybe instead of making a resolution to lose weight (which is vague anyway), how about making one for next 5 years to sustain that weight loss? Or better yet, how about making resolutions to change behaviors that lead to sustainable weight loss?

Let me tell you a story about what I mean. One of my resolutions last year was to start running again. With 3 small children, it was difficult for me to get back into the habit. But instead of saying to myself, “I’m going to start running again,” I started by saying, “Okay, tomorrow, I am going to get up at 5 am and go to the gym.” It worked. So that evening I said, “okay, tomorrow, I am going to get up at 5 am and go to the gym.” And repeat every day after that until it became a habit. Now that it is a habit, it’s easier to get up at 5 am every morning and go to the gym, but it still takes work. I still must find what motivates me to do it every morning. And I think that’s thing that people are missing. They cannot connect their values to the work. Or they expect to eventually not have to put in the work anymore. Unfortunately, that’s not right. It does get easier, but it still takes work, and people tend to give up when that realization hits.   

This is the way it is with most anything. (Hold onto your hats, we’re going down a rabbit hole.) One of the reasons I lost my mojo for this blog was that the world is such a big place and the stuff I was writing about seemed superficial and so small in the context to what is happening. But this concept I am writing about now can be expanded to the bigger issues – people want a quick fix and are afraid to put in the work, time, energy, emotion, etc. to get things done and make things happen. When it comes down to the bigger issues in the US, obesity is becoming one of them (no pun intended) if not already. If we don’t do something about it now, not only will Americans suffer the health consequences – which are many- but we will also suffer the economic consequences. According to the CDC, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity is 147 billion (billion!!) dollars – that is 2008 dollars – not even what it costs today.

I apologize for my disjointed writing. I am afraid I will spiral into what is wrong with US healthcare, which will inevitability end with some political discussion about women’s rights. But I will spare you and go back to the beginning.  Make small changes every day in order to meet your resolution. Or do not even make a resolution – set small goals every day to accomplish what you’d like.

Sound bite: What's your goal for tomorrow? Mine is that every time I feel like yelling at my kids to stop fighting, I will take a deep breath. Then yell. :)