Mind over Matter?

In my GP Practice we’ve been offering weight management services to patients for years, and with some good results. Dietary advice, and encouragement to become more active has become a standard part of our routine treatment of lots of different medical problems. But over the years I’ve grown increasingly concerned that we have been merely skirting over the surface. Sure, eating less and moving more works. The science is there to prove it. But we’re humans, and live in a real world. What happens in scientific experiments isn’t always what happens in the real world.

Often patients will lose weight successfully, only to regain it once they stop seeing us. They become less influenced by the strength of their desire to lose weight and our wise words, and return to a world full of distraction, reverting back to old habits. What I’ve learned over the years is that the secret of weight loss isn’t just in reducing calorie intake (though it helps), and it isn’t just in burning calories in the gym (and yes it also helps). The real secret is..……inside our mind.

Who doesn’t know they should eat less? Who doesn’t understand they should be more active? So why don’t we do it? The answer exists in our relationship with food, our life experiences and our social surroundings. It exists more in what we think, and feel, and less in what we do. For the record, let me be clear. To lose weight dieting and increased activity are essential. But in order for us to develop new, long term habits, we need to change the way we “think” about food.

This month we launched a new weight management group in the Practice. We are going to concentrate on exploring the way we deal with all the emotional issues around food. A large part of that process will be making sure each one has close personal support as they go on their journey of discovery. Having that one-to-one personalised support makes all the difference. It’s also one of the key features of Jenny Craig that sets it apart from the rest and makes it so successful. I’m confident that if we can only get our mind-set right, the rest will still matter, but maybe not as much as before. What do you think?

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