This morning I spent time calling people on our waiting list. The idea was to find out exactly what they were expecting from coming to the Weight Wise program and whether they were ready and likely to be successful.
The bottom line was that the only patients, who after talking to me decided to have their names taken off the list, were those unable to commit the time to engage in an obesity treatment now or in the near future.
Once they heard that treatments would involve several visits with various health professionals, attending community classes and having diagnostic tests, they decided they simply could not make the commitment at this time.
Let’s not kid ourselves - obesity management needs time.
Shopping and preparing healthy meals, eating slow, making time for exercise, relaxation, getting enough sleep, all of this requires time, dedication, focus and hard work. Anything less is not enough - at least not to achieve and maintain significant weight loss.
The reality is that if you are a single mom of three kids working 2 jobs and spending 60 mins a day on your commute, you simply may not have the time to do what it takes to seriously commit to an obesity program - and remember for this to be successful, any changes you make are for life - simply finding the time for the next 12 weeks won’t do it either.
Thinking that getting a few healthy eating “tips” from a dietitian or slapping on a pedometer to monitor your steps (without actually increasing them) will make a difference to your weight is like believing in Santa Claus.
This is not a blame game - it is simply the reality of our times.
After all, fast food is just a symptom of a society that does not take enough time to eat.
AMS
In The News
May 6th, 2009 at 6:05 am
[...] that the problem with fast food was more the “fast” than the “food” (no time to be thin? Jan 17, 2008). I have also regularly blogged on the emerging science on sleep (or rather lack thereof) and [...]