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From Refuse to Regain:

11 June, 2009

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Maintainers: The Wellness Experts

By Barbara Berkeley

There has been a lot of talk about prevention and wellness lately, but where do we go for information on how to be the healthiest we can be?

This morning I was surfing the Internet for maintenance insights as I often do. I love reading what you guys write. The insights, the inspiration, the fire-in-the-belly that drives you to succeed day after day; it’s just great. On one site I was looking at pictures of formerly heavy people in their running clothes. On another, I was reading about farmer’s markets and local produce. Still others were writing about their elimination of processed foods.

All of these maintenance sites pivoted around weight. Their creators had gotten on the Internet because they wanted to conquer obesity and saw an opportunity in public declaration. They remained staunchly focused on fat-avoidance. Yet, as I read on, I came to the realization that none of these bloggers was actually writing about weight. Perhaps without realizing it, each was writing about achieving perfect wellness. As it turns out, few Americans have done such a good job of focusing on health, nor have become as skilled at it, as weight maintainers.

I believe that significant excess poundage is a visible manifestation of something gone wrong in the body. Our bodies know what to do with extra calories, just as they know what to do with extra potassium (release it via kidneys), extra heat (release it via sweat) and extra carbon dioxide (release it via rapid breathing). Unlike fat, other metabolic malfunctions sneak up on us silently and destroy us quietly from the inside. High blood pressure can’t be felt, but it weakens and beats up our arteries. High blood sugar is physically quiet, yet it acts as a caustic irritant to the parts of us that are vascular…our kidneys, retinas and heart arteries. Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides don’t feel like much, but cause potentially fatal damage through clogs, heart attacks and strokes.

When people who suffer from these “silent” metabolic problems are given medication, they tend to have a false sense of security. The underlying problem hasn’t been fixed, it has simply been controlled by a chemical manipulation. There is a big difference between having blood pressure that reads normal because it is treated and blood pressure that is normal all on its own. But medication tends to lull us into the belief that all is well, even that the problem no longer exists. I can’t tell you how frequently I have had a new patient say that he has no medical problems whatsoever. Then, when I go through a detailed history, the same person tells me he is taking three medications. “But you said you didn’t have high blood pressure, cholesterol or sugar,” I say. “I don’t have them,” is the answer.” The medicine takes care of all that.” Well, sort of.

In an odd way, we are lucky that fat is not silent. In fact, it shouts at us every day in a most annoying and unsightly way. We can’t ignore it or take a pill to make us believe it’s gone. Since large fat accumulations are one of the manifestations of a web of metabolic disorder, the behaviors that control and vanquish fat turn out to be the same ones that create overall health. Maintainers, with their determined ferocity about preventing regain have discovered valuable secrets. They have learned how to be healthy by using the scale as a kind of thermometer that takes the temperature of their general well-being. When weight starts to rise, a return to cleaner eating, brisker physical activity, better relaxation, longer sleep, and increased mindfulness will lower not only pant size, but blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol as well.

I get the feeling that many of you have already crossed the line that divides those who are merely on a crusade against fat from those who recognize that they’ve entered a whole new world of healthfulness. This is the world I like roaming: fascinating in its opportunities, interesting to negotiate and fairly limitless. Once someone starts reframing the question, “How do I keep from regaining my weight?” to read “How to do I stay optimally healthy?” their chances of long-term success soar.

Recently, I have started to tell my patients that dieting is like “deflating the balloon.” The process of losing weight is actually quite a simple one. If we unplug ourselves from our external fuel source (the grocery store), we’ll be forced to use up our battery (our fat). The diet part of a permanent weight control journey has little, if anything, to do with what comes next. Again, this is because succeeding at maintenance involves figuring out the guidelines of general wellness; a bigger proposition than simply limiting calories.

For those of you readers who are still in the “deflation” stage, take heart in the knowledge that many successful maintainers precede you. All of them are gurus of healthy living. Their words of wisdom, techniques and vibrant health can lead you to a new place. Learn to be well and you will learn to be the right size for your body.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...ss-experts.html