The other night I visited my son’s college to see his sketch comedy performance. On the way into the auditorium, I passed a classroom named after me. It was called “Adams Teaching Lab.” Okay, so it wasn’t really named after me, but it did inspire me to think about the role teaching plays in weight loss.
As many of you know, I spend a fair amount of time teaching my patients about weight loss, nutrition, and healthy eating. The idea is that once people understand the “facts,” they should be able to do what they need to do to lose weight. But the reality is often very different. Most people understand they need to eat less, eat better and exercise more, but the truth is - that can be damn hard to do. And that’s where the other type of teaching, probably better called “coaching,” comes in. How do we get ourselves to do what we know we need to do?
I believe that the same principles that guide us to live happier and more meaningful lives can also be applied to losing weight. So here’s a little bit of Adam coaching – for both life and weight loss:
Face challenges - We all face setbacks, on our life and weight loss journeys. Often these bumps in the road are things we cannot control. What we can manage, however, is our response to them. We can let ourselves get down or we can pull ourselves back up and start again. The choice is ours. How we choose, what we choose, and why we choose will say a lot about how we meet our challenges.
Slow down - Life is moving at a rapid pace around us. We can get caught up in the race or decide to slow down and “smell the roses” and maybe even eat the vegetables. When we act, speak and eat more deliberately, we are more thoughtful in our choices and we usually get better results. Pause and take a deep breath. I often tell my boys, “if the building is on fire -- run, but otherwise slow down!” Life is more fun when you treat it like a walk on the beach rather than a race down the street.
Get help - We do better when we are supported by our friends, family and community. Asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness. In life and in weight loss, don’t be afraid to draw support from those around you. If you are not sure where to turn, come see me for a visit, come to one of our support groups, or visit our patient-run Facebook support page. You are not alone.
Give help - Offering help to others often has the unintended benefit of making us feel better ourselves. It feels good to make a difference for someone else, and when you feel good, you make better, more thoughtful decisions.
So…..as Winnie the Pooh opined “I always get where I am going by walking away from where I’ve been." And as Forrest Gump offered “That’s all I’m gonna say about that!”
Thank you for visiting “Adam’s Teaching Lab.” Thank you for listening. But most importantly, thank you for sharing. I have learned so much from all of you.
If you need help (or even if you don’t!), I am here to teach, coach, or…. just listen!
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