Dr. Philip Greenwood

 

A patient was in my office about 8 weeks ago and made the common passing lament: “I need to lose some weight.” So I asked, “How much do you want to lose?” “Well, I could start with about 20 pounds” he said. To which I replied, “So could I.” Then he asked, “So how do I do it?” My answer was pretty simple: “Stop doing the stuff you shouldn’t be doing and start doing the stuff you should.”

 

My response wasn’t as flippant as it sounds. When you get to the bottom of it nutrition is this: getting enough of what you need and eliminating what you don’t need. So I pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote “I will lose 20 pounds by August 1, 2010.” Then I signed it, had my patient sign it and made him a copy. Then I said, “Name 3 things that you’re doing now that don’t support you getting to your goals.” For me it was snacking between dinner and bedtime, eating my kid’s leftovers and (sad to say) a 7-up with lunch.

 

Here are the 10 Principles I used to get it done.

 

1. Commit – Sign A Contract.

 

I put a deadline on it and I put a specific amount to lose. A contract has to be specific or it’s worthless. That way I couldn’t give myself permission to procrastinate. I don’t consider myself any more disciplined than anyone else. I’ve got the same lazy streak as everyone else. I just acknowledge it – so I anticipate and compensate.

 

Make a reasonable time frame. Faster is not better. Yes, it makes a dramatic story – “Lose 20 lbs. in 3 days,” but even if you could do it you’re not really doing something sustainable.

 

2. Identifying My Game Killers.

 

It doesn’t matter what any diet book says. What matters is what you’re doing that’s killing your game. Warren Buffet’s rules of investing: “Rule 1: Don’t lose the money. Rule 2: See rule #1.” In other words, guard your downside. Sometimes winning is simply “not losing.” I’m sure that 85% of my success on this was this simple concept. On the plus side my wife started to prepare more homemade soups like vegetable beef, minestrone, chicken tortilla [easy on the tortillas], broccoli leek soup.

 

3. Weigh myself morning and evening every day

 

You can’t get to your destination if you veer too far off course. Flying a plane you’ve got to constantly scan your instruments. So I weighed myself twice a day and kept tracks of the downs (and ups!).

 

4. Don’t focus on perfection

 

Perfectionism is the #1 way to fail. Nothing will kill your game faster than having to do everything perfectly. I got through 10 years of college and doctor school and I’ll admit that some classes just about did me in. One chemistry class in particular was heavy on logarithmic math and completely kicked my butt. But I scraped by that semester with a C – my only “C” by the way. The point is, I still kept forging ahead and didn’t quit just because I wasn’t perfect. And now, 25 years later, absolutely nobody cares that I got a C one semester in chemistry.

 

I went off course on my goal a few times, and my instrument readings let me know. When you’re driving, hopefully you don’t wait until you veer off onto the shoulder and down the embankment before you get your car back in the lane. When you’re driving you don’t focus on perfection, but you do stay in your lane!

 

5. No Soda – Don’t Drink Calories

 

A 12-oz soda is 140 calories I don’t need. I get the same pleasant, refreshing, bubbly effect from mineral water. No, I didn’t replace it with “diet” soda. That stuff has a bunch of chemical crap in it. And I know that sweet things – artificial or not – will increase my cravings for more sweet things. Just not a path I want to start down.

 

6. No White Flour Food

 

Next to soda, this was my biggest source of empty calorie food. Tortillas, bread, muffins. They had to go. With one exception…

 

7. Let Myself Go Crazy Once A Week

 

This is not just because I need to go crazy. If I cut calorie intake too long my body will adapt to it and lower my metabolism. So if you see me at Lazy Dog eating a giant hamburger with chipotle fries and a margarita you’ll know it’s my “binge day.”

 

8. Be Content With Occasional Plateaus

 

I lost the first 5 pounds within about a week of just stopping the after dinner eating, eliminating soda and leaving my kids leftovers alone. Then, in spite of my continued good behavior nothing changed for another week. I hit these plateaus regularly over the past 8 weeks. Most of my weight loss came in sudden bursts. I believe that my body needed to acclimate at each “set-point” before it was willing to move to the next one. I actually think these plateaus are essential because they give the body time to re-establish a new set point and avoid bouncing back to the previous weight. It’s like stretching a muscle. I’ve got to hold it for a bit and allow it to get comfortable at a certain point before going farther. Plateaus are not a time to become discouraged. Just keep running the game plan.

 

Weird thing. The morning after my first binge day I was down another 3 pounds – instantly. I couldn’t believe it so I weighed myself two more times. This is the one thing that has confirmed the validity of the binge day theory is that over the past eight weeks my biggest weight losses have come right after binge day.

 

9. No Magic Pills

 

I do believe in good nutritional supplementation – I do it and I recommend it for my patients. But I don’t believe in falsely revving up the metabolism and pumping up the adrenal glands. Creating a falsely induced physiology for your body can’t create lasting effects. Nutrition is for supporting function – not altering or stimulating it. Using herbs or supplements to alter function is just non-prescription drug therapy.

 

A note on exercise – not a major factor for most people I think. I exercise doing martial art training 4 days a week, but that didn’t change. I’m convinced that exercise is a minor factor in weight loss. You can eat 3 cookies and it’ll take you an hour to exercise them off. Exercise is important for health and fitness, but on the weight loss side I think a lot of people torture themselves unnecessarily at the gym. Making a few small distinctions in eating – finding their 3 things that are killing their personal game and fixing them – will move them forward better than anything.

 

10. Don’t Depend On Anybody Else

 

Every time I hear someone say they’re going to start a diet or begin an exercise program as soon as their friend (or spouse) can start too I know they are all set for failure. My weight – and my body – is my business and my responsibility. I’ve got to take charge in spite of other people – and in spite of laziness or any tendency I might be tempted to have to pawn responsibility off on either circumstances or other people.

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 10:36 pm and is filed under Health & Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.