Prevent Weight Gain in 4 Easy Steps

Apr 03, 2019

This may be TMI, but I just had my midlife tune-up, medically speaking. So many parts were tested and probed. I happily report all is well, but it got me thinking.

It’s important to check under the hood every once in awhile. As a physician, I know very well the great benefits of preventative care measures.

But it can be a hard sell.

Frankly, it took me a year before I got around to making my own appointments.

It’s uncomfortable and time consuming and there’s no immediate reason to do it. No pain or bleeding or difficulty.

The threat of something terrible in the future is no match for immediate discomfort.

We so often do things only when we hit a pain point.

People stop smoking when they have a heart attack.
They quit drinking when they get a DUI.
They lose weight when they can’t fit in XL anymore (or get a diabetes diagnosis).

It’s how the human brain works—keep on keepin’ on unless something gets in the way (it’s even Newton’s 1^st law of motion).

For humans, pain is one of the only things big enough to get in the way. Physical or emotional pain.

We’re all grown-ups here.

So let’s decide we’re not going to wait for pain (or more pain) when it comes to weight gain.

Let’s avoid shortness of breath, heartburn, sleeping problems and Diabetes. Let’s avoid isolating because of our weight or beating ourselves up for it.

When it comes to weight gain, preventing it is so much easier than treating it.

Here’s how:

Weigh yourself weekly—first thing in the morning, same day each week (extra points if you write the info down).

Notice if your weight creeps up (a higher weight from baseline 2 weeks in a row indicates true weight gain).

Tweak your diet to lower the number of calories you’re eating per week until the weight’s back down (It won’t take much because it’s only been a couple of weeks and a couple of pounds—swap fruit for ice cream, order in fewer days, bring your lunch to work).

Repeat steps 1-3.

These Weight Gain Prevention Steps could be done no matter where you are with your current weight. Even if you weigh more than you’d like to right now, making sure you didn’t gain would save lots of heartache.

Create the habit of getting on the scale and preventing weight gain.

Once you have this version of weight control down, you might feel enough confidence to tackle any excess weight you want to lose. With the skills you build, success is as simple as 1,2,3,4.

Prevent Weight Gain in 4 Easy Steps

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