Here’s a couple of fun facts for you. In 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a chronic disease. That’s not very long ago… especially when you consider that it was way back in 1956 when the American Medical Association recognized addiction as a chronic disease... at least addiction to alcohol. Increasingly, as more and more research is conducted on the addictive potential of some foods, we are learning that certain foods can be as addictive as other substances of abuse. Researchers are also learning the numerous similarities between certain foods and other addictive substances… These similarities include cravings, an obsession with the substance, denial, relapse and continued use of the substance even when people know the substance is causing problems in their life. There is a lot of controversy among professionals and lay persons alike about the idea that food can be an addictive substance. Listen in and see what you think! And IF you decide food is an addictive substance for you, what are you supposed to do about it? Here’s a hint… Weight loss surgery won’t treat food addiction so you’re going to need to learn some ways to treat the disease of food addiction while also working on the disease of obesity! Two unique diseases requiring different approaches to treatment. Take a listen!

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Eating in response to feelings of frustration, loneliness, sadness, fear, or boredom – or emotional eating - is an unhealthy habit in which far too many of us engage. Maintaining weight loss isn’t easy to begin with, but if you regularly engage in mindless, emotional eating, regain will be an inevitability. When we engage in emotional eating, we are unlikely to be making a mad dash to the produce department, sprinting for the carrots and celery. Instead, when we want to dull the unpleasant ache of painful emotions, we gravitate toward those all-too familiar, and aptly named… comfort foods…. You know, the ooey, gooey confections from the bakery, the cold rich smoothness found in tubs of ice cream, or the soft fluffy mashed potatoes drowning in gravy. Too often when people struggle with emotional eating and the increase in weight accompanying that emotional eating, they seek a new “diet” of some sort. That’s not what they need! They need skills for dealing with those unpleasant emotions! Listen in and learn some good skills that are a whole lot more effective than any fad diet for breaking the unhealthy habit of emotional eating!

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Getting rid of unhealthy habits requires mindful effort. Surprise! Just like developing healthy new habits, when we work on letting go of negative habits, we have to focus on doing so! This requires mindful effort. It takes work! As does most everything we work for in life. Going to work to get money requires effort. Having a healthy relationship requires conscious effort. When working on developing good habits or getting rid of bad ones, asking some soul-searching questions reminds us of the reasons we want to make the changes in our habits… Remember that the choice we make to follow through with a healthy behavior or an unhealthy one… and yes, it is always a choice that we alone make … will determine the quality of your day and the direction of your life! So listen in, learn some questions to ask to help you respond in healthy ways rather than react in an unhealthy ways. Then make a conscious effort to do this each and every day until your healthy behaviors are your way of life! Do the hokey pokey, my friend – and turn YOURself around! So, so corny… I know!

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Navigating Social Outings and Travel. Going to sporting events, concerts, the theater can be difficult for those who suffer from the disease of obesity. As can attending dinner at a restaurant, going to the doctor’s office and attending children’s school performances. Mobility issues are always a concern when traveling for those who carry extra weight. Dana shares great tips for loved ones who assist a person struggling with obesity to make any outing a little easier for all parties involved! Listen as she shares her wealth of information based on her own experiences.

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Most of our daily routine is made of up habits we established throughout our lives. Some of our habits help us and others get in the way of our health and happiness. Some habits, either good or bad, we learned through observation by the people most prominent in our young lives. Other habits, or consistent behaviors in which we engage without really thinking about them, we learned along our journey in life. If we want to establish new behaviors, there is a process we can utilize. I’m guessing and hoping that as a bariatric patient, you want to use healthy habits that lead to weight loss and most importantly, weight maintenance. No regressing to the old, unhealthy habits that resulted in regain in the past. Listen in and learn the four-step process for habit formation. Then put forth EFFORT and use them!

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In order to maintain weight loss, a person has to develop and engage in healthy lifestyle habits. As I thought about this, knowing that habit formation requires pairing a cue, or trigger or situation with a behavior I started thinking of “pairing” my ear buds with my phone… which can be frustrating! Sometimes I get the message that the earbuds and phone are connected, or paired - and then immediately message changes to NOT connected. Frustrating! Trying to establish healthy behaviors to maintain weight loss can be frustrating, as well. You connect, or follow through with a healthy new behavior a time or two, and then wham! Just like that you become “disconnected” from your intention, forgetting about the reward of maintaining that healthy weight. And there you are, seeming to be back to square one. I have to remain persistent when I pair my earbuds and my phone. We all have to remain persistent when establishing healthy lifestyle behaviors so that in time, they do become habits… and we engage in healthy habits without having to think about it! Listen up and we’ll get into more detail about habits… 

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I hear it almost every day, “Dr. Stapleton. It’s hard! This whole weight thing is so difficult!” I agree. Weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight are very difficult things for many people. What makes it so hard? In today’s talk, I discuss the difference between behaviors that are objectively difficult versus subjectively difficult. It’s often the case that we say things are “hard” or “difficult” because of what we are thinking or feeling as opposed to any real objective difficulty. Take drinking water, for example. Drinking water is important for everyone, whether they are trying to lose weight or prevent regain. Drinking water is not difficult, from an objective perspective. For some people, though, they dislike water or the inconvenience of drinking water throughout the day. Listen in and maybe you’ll gain a new perspective!

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Humans… we love to find something or someone to fault – usually when things are going the way we would like them to. If I’m arguing with my husband, I want to blame him, whether or not he started the argument. It’s easier and definitely more emotionally comfortable to point the finger at him than to look at what part I play in the situation! The same can be true regarding diseases… we want to find reasons (that have nothing to do with ourselves) for having the disease. Obesity can be like that for some people. The blame game is not going to help anyone when we are talking about a multifaceted disease like obesity that has so many contributing factors. There are likely many factors related to your obesity you are not responsible for (think genetics) and there are some aspects you are responsible for (the types of food you consume). Let’s take a closer look and leave the blame behind and instead, focus on living a healthy lifestyle!

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Motivation seems hard to come by at times. When people regain weight, they often talk about lacking motivation and not knowing how to ignite more motivation. Well, here’s the reality (which you may translate as not such great news): motivation will never, ever descend upon you from the heavens or the universe. Motivation can, however, and this is good news, be corralled, harnessed, or created. What motivated you to want to lose weight in the first place? What are your “whys?” Why did you want to create a healthy lifestyle? Chances are there were external reasons and internal reasons. Maybe you wanted to buy clothes at a particular store… an external reason. Perhaps you wanted to improve your health and feel better… internal reasons. Motivation… or the things you are willing to do to get what you want… can be externally or internally motivated or a combination of both! Listen and learn what would work best for you! 

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Sometimes the family members and good friends of persons suffering from obesity feel very alone with their thoughts and feelings. They may be afraid to share some of their innermost thoughts and feelings for fear of what others may think and because they feel conflicted themselves about what they are thinking and feeling. Dana shares how she experienced love for her husband (who suffers from the disease of obesity) and how she also felt fear, anger, sadness, shame, and protection at the same time. Listen as Dana speaks from her heart about how to deal with the thoughts and feelings you may be experiencing as a person who loves and cares for a person who has the disease of obesity. As she wisely reminds us, Sigmund Freud once said (and it’s true), “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” Listen as Dana talks about the importance of getting in touch with your feelings and sharing them. 

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