Therapy Can Work

Katherine Rabinowitz, LP, M.A., NCPsyA

Licensed Psychotherapist & Psychoanalyst
Union Square, Greenwich Village, New York, NY

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Therapy Can Work

Katherine Rabinowitz, LP, M.A., NCPsyA

Licensed Psychotherapist & Psychoanalyst
Union Square, Greenwich Village, New York, NY

Losing Weight: A Neverending Battle

Losing Weight: A Neverending Battle

Whenever people ask me how they can lose weight, the first thing I tell them
is that they have to make up their mind
that they really want to do it and do it for themselves.

~Jennifer Hudson

Was losing weight one of your New Year’s resolutions? Has it begun to slip out of your grasp?  Did you go on a diet that worked before but for some reason isn’t working now?

It’s a simple fact that we here in the United States eat too much. Not only do we eat too much, but we eat too much of the wrong foods, don’t get enough exercise, and find ourselves the victim of pounds that find their way onto our bodies, even though we think we haven’t done anything differently than we always have. We’re kidding ourselves.

If you’re serious about losing weight and wanting to keep it off, as in forever, as opposed to the Yo-Yo Effect, going on a diet, achieving the coveted 10-15-20 pound loss, only to see it creep right back on again, you’re going to have to change your thinking. It’s not easy.

The first thing you’ll have to do is abandon is the notion of a diet being the solution to the problem. Diets don’t work. They may help you take off some or even a lot of weight, but when you get there, feel proud for having done so, and end the diet, guess what. It comes right back on. It doesn’t matter which diet you were on: calorie counting, low fat, low carbs, non-dairy, non-meat – whatever it is you’ve chosen, if you think of it as a temporary means to get to the weight you want, you’re gonna’ lose.

The dieting wars have got to stop.

~Lady Gaga

What your thinking has to change to is a permanent change in lifestyle. Permanent. Evaluate (honestly) what you’re doing, what you’re not doing, what you need to do, and commit to doing it. Forever.

If you have no exercise in your life, you’ll need to add it. It doesn’t mean you have to join an expensive gym and go six time a week, or become a runner, or do pilates or Zumba. You can simply walk. Walking is some of the best exercise there is. You can do that anywhere, and all you need for “equipment” is a comfortable pair of walking shoes.

As for food, you know what you have to do: cut out snacks; cut down portion size; cook your own food from fresh products when you can; add more fresh fruits and vegetables to what you eat; cut down on sweet and calorie-laden foods; skip the dessert most of the time, and remember you can’t justify a second piece of cake because you went to the gym. If you looked up what you’d have to do to work off even the first piece of cake, you might not even have that.

Eat a variety of foods, especially those high in protein. Stay hydrated (water and seltzer are your best choices – if you must have it taste like something, squeeze a bit of lemon into it). Minimize your consumption of alcoholic beverages, and especially fruit juices. Juice is deadly. Eat an apple instead of drinking a bottle of apple juice.

Check labels. Manufacturers know how to fool the living daylights out of you calling something a “healthy choice.” READ THE LABEL. Learn what some of those crazy words actually are. Stay away from added sugars.

This does not mean you should starve yourself, living on ONLY on rabbit food or never have a treat. This is not about total self-deprivation. You might even be able to sometimes have dessert if you have what you know won’t cost you. You might discover ways to have desserts you make yourself and don’t come in a package.

If you can, make a few appointments with a nutritionist, just to get yourself on track and know what you can and can’t eat to maintain a balanced, nutritious and permanent choice of healthy foods to reach your goal weight and keep it off.

Slow but steady wins the race. If you have a friend who tells you about a sure-fire way to lose 10 pounds a week, don’t listen. It’s not only not healthy, but could be dangerous. As are diet pills – a definite no-no. Remember – this is going to be a permanent new lifestyle. For life. And you have the rest of your life to accomplish it.

In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.

~Benjamin Franklin

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