Behaviour Modification- Weight loss key

Behaviour modification is another great tool in achieving weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight at the long run. Some of us must have heard of Behaviour modification, while it is still new to a few of us. I usually explain to my clients that having the mindset that "I am going on a diet" often sets one up for failure. Healthy eating to achieve and maintain healthy weight should be a lifestyle and it is only when it is approached as such that success is achieved and sustained. In order to achieve this, problem behaviours that are specific to individuals has to be modified, so we will borrow 5 terms from Psychologists and expand them under factors that influence our food choices.

1. CHAIN BREAKING:- This is identifying, and breaking the link between 2 or more behaviours that encourage us to overeat. For most people, a good example of this is snacking while watching the TV. Sitting down to watch the TV is already minimising the amount of energy spent by our body at that period of time, so if this inaction is now coupled with unhealthy snacking, then extra energy is stored up in the body as fat. My advice is for you not to snack while watching the TV but you can substitute this with exercising while watching your favourite TV show or movie, and also turning off the TV at mealtimes is also recommended.

2. STIMULUS CONTROL:- This is changing your environment to reduce the stimuli for overeating, for example, removing foods from sight and storing them in kitchen cabinets particularly ready to eat foods. A lot of us will think that we dont have issues with this........uhm  think again. Let me prove you wrong (at least a greater percentage of us if not all). Here you are at work, it is approaching lunch time and you are actually hungry, so on your way to the resturant you thought about what u will eat when you get there, and on getting there you actually place your order then as you take your seat (or on your way to your seat) BAM!!!!!!!!!it happens, you just happen to see a transparent refrigerator with a chilled bottle of ....................( Fill in the gap) then you think i need that drink to wash down my food...lol, and you say your food choice is not affected by what you see...............think again.

3. COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING:- This involves changing your frame of mind regarding eating. For example, instead of using boredom as an excuse for an extra plate of food, do something that involves burning energy; rather than chewing extra bars of chocolate to get you out of a momentary bout of depression or whichever emotional downtime, chew on the word of God, meditate on your favourite verse of the scripture, remember God's past faithfulness, Sing praises and dance, the list is endless, pick one that works best for you.

4. CONTIGENCY MANAGEMENT:- This is forming a plan of action to respond to a situation in which overeating is likely to occur e.g. when snacks are within arms length at a party, what do you do? Let me give you a personal tip that works for me, pick up an interest in the people you are sitting with and if that is becoming difficult, then look for an old friend and catch up on lost times while you slowly chew and enjoy the food you have carefully selected for yourself.  Dont eat anything just because it is available.

5. SELF MONITORING:- This is a process of tracking the foods you eat and the conditions affecting your eating. keeping a food diary is important for someone serious about losing excess weight as it will open ones eyes to the contributions of those little in between snacks one takes unconsiously. It does not have to be an elaborate diary, a jotter will do for starters where you write all you ate during the day. Also conditions affecting your choice of foods might be your friends and family.....meditate on these things.


Note: This has been more serious than i intended, but weight loss is a serious issue and i want you to remember that change starts from the mind, ( as a man/woman thinketh, so is He/She), so, if you believe you can and will lose weight then you will.

 Start believing..................Keep believing.............till we meet again.

WEIGHT LOSS

Weight loss is the most widely discussed topic worldwide out of the weight management topics because quite a number of the present human race wants to lose weight due to the phenomenon of food hunting man as opposed to the man hunting food of hundreds of years ago. Now weight loss can be achieved consiously/ deliberately or unconsiously. Over time in my profession i've realised that it is not everybody who says that 'i want to lose weight' actually wants to lose weight (in fact the first response of most people i meet for the first time once they hear i am a dietitian is i want to lose weight, so how do i go about it?), so the first thing you need to know is to discover if you trully want to lose weight. 
Having determined that, then you pursue your desire. A wise man once said that the proof of desire is pursuit, so if you really desire weight loss you will pursue it, for instance, you did not become the professional you are today without studying to become that (even if it was not your first choice, you still studied to become that), also you are not a true fan of a sporting event without actually spending time to understand the sport, watching the sporting event, and flying your club's colours, all of which involves commiting your time and resources,so nobody who ACTUALLY wants to lose weight achieves that without spending time and resources to know how it works and my goal is to help in pointing you to the right direction.

Knowing how confusing some weight loss tips can be, i intend to keep this simple and straight forward, so here we go:

• GOD: No, your eyes are not deceiving you, neither is your mind. Commit your weight loss desire into the hands of God by praying about it. Remember the sayings of the wise king in the book of proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 & 6 which says that "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." If you forget any other tip on this blog please do not forget this. It makes logical sense that the creator knows all about what He created and i know quite a number of people who have successfully lost weight by committing this desire into God's hands including yours truly; so stop putting first thing last and go ahead right now and pray about this and i assure you that He will open your eyes to know how best to put all the tips here and else where to good use which will bring you to your desired weight or dress size. (Trust me, this works)

• MATHS: lol, yes maths, there are 3 equations you should learn and never forget, they are:

          (i) Food intake > Food expenditure = WEIGHT GAIN

          (ii)Food Intake = Food Expenditure = WEIGHT MAINTENANCE

          (iii)Food Intake < Food Expenditure = WEIGHT LOSS

         The body converts food we eat into energy which we use to carry out  our daily activities, so if  the amount of food consumed is more than the amount of food spent then weight gain occurs,also if the amount of food consumed is equal to the amount of energy expended, then you maintain your current weight, but our goal is equation (iii) so every tip you see on this topic is to help us to expend more energy than we consume. This will help you to understand every other tip you see on this topic here or in any magazine or advert.

Keep holding on till i come your way with more tips next week

Weight management

Hello Dear friends, welcome on board, i decided to get myself into deep waters by starting off my blog with a topic with many contradictory issues, but i realise that i have to get out of my comfort zone. Actually my passion, field of expertise and career is Nutrition and Dietetics serves as the basis for this but most importantly, i can do all things through Christ that Strengtens me. Weight management includes a lot of things which can all be broadly attended to under 3 segment viz: WEIGHT LOSS, WEIGHT GAIN & WEIGHT MAINTENANCE. These 3 segments will be tackled seperately at times but most times under the same umbrella of other related or seeminly unrelated topics but make sure you are not just a reader but a doer because everybody belongs to one of the categories above and there are times in life when we move from one category to another for instance,  an executive who has been within the healthy weight range for his height suddenly discovers that he has added so much weight that he is no longer  in that range but has moved on to a not so healthy or downright unhealthy weight range; or the all too normal phenomenon of having to lose the extra weight gained during pregnancy. Also we have an individual who has lost so much weight due to proplonged illness and needs to get back on course. 

So, for you to know which category you belong to You need to know your Body Mass Index (BMI) which is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres viz weight in kg/ height x height in metres, you then compare your result with a standard BMI chart to know if your weight is within the healthy weight range or not. (pregnancy period is an exception to this rule)

BMI categories

Underweight < 18.5

Normal Weight 18.5 - 24.9

Overweight  25 - 29.9

Obesity    30 or Greater.

Although the BMI has its limitation but it is a basic tool of assessment which can help an individual to take charge of his/her life. 

Do not hesitate to contact me if you want a professional advice.

Contact Details

Olusola Sotunde R.D. (Nigeria)

E mail solaakinwande@yahoo.com