Everyone knows how hard it is to be obese and lose weight. I recently was sent through one of my many websites that I watch an article first published by Huffpost on obesity.  It was a long article on how society views and treats obesity. I am not sure about the goal of the overall message, but it did bring up some interesting ideas.

For the person who is obese or wants more insight into a different perspective on obesity, this is a good article. As a physician, I am always trying to learn something new, and medical resources are not always the most interesting. Finding a layperson’s view on the subject is often enlightening, and that’s what I found in this article.

Obesity is a major factor in society. It can affect physical and emotional health. The above article talks mostly about the psychological and emotional impacts of obesity. It barely touches on why there are so many people who are obese and struggle with weight loss. There are a few messages about our diets and how many of us view food buried in the article. The majority of the article is about our attitudes about obesity. The message overall is maybe many of us need to rethink our understanding of the struggles of obesity.

Rethinking Obesity

If you’re overweight or obese, the prospect of losing weight is likely on your mind, but it an be intimidating to even take those first few steps towards a healthy lifestyle. Aside from societal pressures, most people lead busy, active lives that don’t always allow us to put our health first. Long hours at the office, driving the kids to and from practices and running errands throughout the week doesn’t always leave us time to get our exercise or cook healthy meals. There are a number of factors working against our ability to lose weight.

That can make the prospect of losing weight seem daunting, so much so that we’re afraid to take the first step. But we need to understand that losing weight isn’t about ALWAYS making the right dietary and exercise choices, it’s about making more right choices than we did in the past. We need to come to grips with the fact that we’re not going to lose 20 pounds in a week. But if we can make small changes – changes that aren’t life altering and are thus, sustainable long term – we can lose half a pound or a pound a week. This will eventually become a new normal, and although your weight loss journey may take longer than initially expected, you’re more likely to end up with sustained results.

Too many people dive headfirst into a diet routine that is simply unsustainable. They start by dramatically cutting calories and exercising hours each day, and while that may lead to five or more pounds of weigh loss in the first week, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to sustain that. Slowly you’re going to start eating worse and working out less, and eventually you’re going to be back to square one because you’re gradually making poorer health choices instead of making smaller, more sustainable choices.

For example, small steps can simply be something like avoiding snacking after 7 p.m., or subbing out your afternoon soda with water. Make small, sustainable changes right away, even if it doesn’t immediately lead to you having a calorie deficit for the day. It’s much more likely that you can stick with these changes and keep moving the needle in the right direction instead of believing you can exercise for two hours daily and cut your calorie intake in half.

We need to rethink obesity and how we tackle the issue if we want to be successful in our weight loss journey.