Feb 27
The Diet and Behavioral Science
Yesterday I had my third appointment at MUSC since starting one of their diet plans. In the banner right above this post, you can see how well I’m doing. (Ten of those pounds were lost on my own in the month before I started their plan, but still, that’s pretty impressive.)
This time, I met with a behavioral specialist. This is code for a psychology graduate student. The plan consists of a prescribed diet as well as regular meetings with rotating staff members representing different discipines: dieticians, exercise specialists and behavioral specialists. The behavioral specialist is supposed to get you to think about why you’ve allowed yourself to gain so much weight and why you (apparently) haven’t been able to say no to food in the past.
I met with a young female grad student who seemed nice enough. She asked me about setting a goal for my weight loss. I told her I wanted to get down to about 200 pounds, which means that I have about 66 pounds to go. She asked about rewards. I said that I hadn’t really thought about it. She pointed out that many people on the plan have found that by setting rewards, they can find a little extra motivation to reach their goals sooner.
The problem is, as I finally pointed out when pushed on the subject, unlike some of their clients — presumably some of their “success story” clients — I don’t want to say that when I hit the 25-pounds-lost mark, I’ll go buy a new shirt. Or that when I lose 30 pounds, I’ll go buy a new pair of clothing. Or that when I lose 40 pounds, I’ll go take a trip to the zoo.
I can go to the zoo whenever I want to, and I don’t want to buy clothes until I get more pounds off. I might end up buying a few new pairs of slacks before long because I’m already feeling a little extra room in the ones I’m now wearing. (The belt buckle is now one notch tighter.)
Anyway, I said, the main reward I have in mind would be that when I lose 40 pounds or so, I’d want to go have one dinner at Outback.
Seems to defeat the purpose of a diet, doesn’t it?
She thought so, but said so very sweetly. Yes, I agreed. This is why I haven’t bothered trying to set a lot of rewards. My biggest reward will be looking in the mirror and not being disgusted. Or looking at my next blood test results and being impressed about how good my cholesterol and sugar level is.
She then asked what my short-term goals were for the next week or so. Did she mean how much I wanted to lose? No, she answered. She meant in terms of exercise, which she noted on my worksheet that I hadn’t been doing a lot of.
Fine. I’d like to do the suggested 20 minutes of aerobic exercise for the suggested five days per week. I’d also like to start working towards the weight training for five days per week, too.
She started writing. Damn, I thought. What she’s writing is going to come back to haunt me next week. Somebody — her or someone else — is going to read that and ask if I made the goal.
I just hope they don’t make me come up with some kind of “reward” if I make the goal.
If they do, I might just go have a Rockhampton Ribeye just out of spite.
Weigh-in: 266.5
Total Lost: 23.5
Lost on MUSC Plan: 13.5
Left to Go: 66.5
February 27th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
So there’s nothing you want, no place (besides Outback) you want to visit, no one you want to see, that you can’t already afford to do, see, visit, if you so desire?
Sounds a bit more than spoiled to me…
It also sounds like you need some serious training in setting goals.
February 27th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
So there’s nothing you want, no place (besides Outback) you want to visit, no one you want to see, that you can’t already afford to do, see, visit, if you so desire?
Sounds a bit more than spoiled to me…
There are plenty of things I’d like to have or places I’d like to visit that I can’t afford. More of them than I can count, in fact. But it seems like setting them as a goal would be rather pointless since I wouldn’t have the money then to pay for them any more than I do now. To me, that’s not so much “spoiled” as “realistic.” But maybe I’m wrong.
As for the things I’d want to have or local places I’d want to visit that I can afford, there’s the problem of being able to really justify the expense for them that usually keeps me from proceeding. I suppose my problem is that I have not managed to convince myself that simply hitting a pre-determined weight — one that I should have been below years ago — is reasonable justification to spend the money. Maybe it’s that I’m too cheap.
It also sounds like you need some serious training in setting goals.
I’m sure I do. I suspect that’s what we’ll work on in session #4. I’m suddenly feeling the need to mention this discussion and see what the head-shrinker has to say about it.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Hmm. It sounds to me like you’re still stuck on punishing yourself for being that weight in the first place, rather than rewarding yourself for (presumably) successfully losing it. Certainly an understandable point of view, but perhaps not a productive one. Hey, if you can get where you want to be just by telling yourself that’s where you should be, good on ya, mate. However, these weight loss people have some experience on their side. And, quite frankly, if you drop 40 pounds (not an inconsiderable amount) I can’t see why single dinner at Outback would be verboten. You might skip the blooming onion, or fries, but a good steak isn’t going to hurt you on a very occasional basis. If that’s a reward that will motivate you, I say Miss Grad Student was wrong to turn her nose up, however sweetly, at it.
Just my not-so-humble opinion. I have lots more of them, if you want to hear them. But, of course, you knew that. Great start on the weight loss journey (don’t call it a diet - it’s a lifestyle change).
February 28th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
“Maybe it’s that I’m too cheap.”
Nah, it’s just the Scotch-Irish ancestry, by the looks of you. Why experience pain, when it’s so much easier to suffer? LOL
Congrats and I second Paul’s observation — it’s a lifestyle change (and I am the pot calling the kettle black, by the by — then again, I’d need to lose more than a hundred pounds and that isn’t happening on a diet of steroids for asthma).