The question: What are the 10 worst saboteurs that undercut weight loss and make it near-impossible to maintain a healthy weight?

My answers: you will see that this is not focused only on people with diabetes.It is really for all of us as we head into eat-all-the-bakes-you-can-get season. This is the time for family and celebration. No matter your religious beliefs, I think gluttony is NOT thought to be a good thing!{{more}}

Here goes, my top ten…

1) Eating when bored or being social instead of when actually hungry—lots of folks simply sit and nosh while working, entertaining etc when in fact they are not really hungry. Think before you snack. If you just had something to eat at home, you DO NOT need another meal when you visit your friend half hour later.

2) Inviting the enemy into the house—One lady told me that the time she kept weight off the best was when her kids were in the house because she bought stuff they liked but she didn’t. If you know your weakness is chocolate chip cookies, don’t buy them and bring them home. Leave them in the store and avoid the cookie aisle 🙂

3) Not serving yourself a portion and instead picking up the whole container—bringing the bag of chips in front of the TV instead of serving a bowl and putting the bag away, bringing over the tub of ice cream instead of serving up a small bowl then putting it away etc. These are all ways that you sabotage yourself from the get-go.

4) Giving up before even trying—this happens a lot at the holidays. Many people just accept they will gain weight during the holidays so they don’t even try to limit their food. At least TRY!

5) Not reading labels. It sounds like a lot of work but it gets so easy. If anything, I ask people to pay attention to serving sizes that can be very different than you expect. Many drinks for example are actually two servings instead of 1. One serving of ice cream is about half a cup, not two cups which is what many people serve themselves.

6) Junk food— So easy and almost routinely so bad for you in terms of calories and fat intake. I love pizza, it is my weakness. But I try my hardest to limit it as much as possible.

7) Sodas— The recreational drink for everyone. They are all empty calories without any nutritional value at all. They pack weight on so quickly it’s amazing.

8) Forgetting about being active in small ways— Many people think two hours at the gym is the only option. That is not the case at all: gardening, house cleaning, carrying your own groceries, walking instead of hitching a ride. It all counts towards keeping your heart healthy and keeping weight stable.

9) Giving up entirely. Many simply accept weight gain as inevitable but it is not. Aside from dietary and lifestyle issues to be addressed, people need to bring this up with their doctor to be sure something else is not going on. Medication side effects and other illnesses like underactive thyroid can all cause weight gain.

10) Not paying attention— We know that the people who lose weight and keep it off most successfully all weigh themselves regularly and pay attention to what they eat. It is important to stay in the game mentally or else you can slide downhill very quickly.

Anita Ramsetty, MD
endodocs@endocrinehelp.com
Medical Director Endocrine Care Group
www.endocrinehelp.com
Tel: 843-798-4227