1 Step Program - Weight Loss OR Weight Gain?
Tuesday June 15, 2010
Before I start this post formally, I want to let you know that GoDaddy is at it again. I am having lots of problems. First they have been sending out email notification of my posts prior to the listed post time from me. Also, yesterday, it started again when they don't send my subscribers notification of a post. They just can't get it right on top of a number of other issues I have with their blog side of things. So, if you don't get notification of a post, come by anyway. I post every day so for now, GoDaddy is messing up again!
I happened to catch this segment on Al Roker, from the Today Show last week. For those that may not know him, he decided to get gastric bypass surgery to lose weight when his weight got as high as 340 pounds. His father was sick with cancer in the hospital when he said to Al: "Look. You’ve got to promise me that you’re going to lose weight. We both know I’m not going to be here to help you with my grandchildren. So you’ve got to promise me.” Al Jr. promised he would. That evening, his father lost the ability to speak. Three weeks later he was dead.
Al said some really interesting things in that segment about his journey, how he felt about losing weight before his father asked him on his death bed to promise to lose weight, the process, the pitfalls & yes, his perception of himself.
Here are some of the things he had to say:
1. First he said this: Like many morbidly obese people, Roker got plenty of advice from every quarter about his need to lose weight. But during a later segment he did with Curry and TODAY’s Natalie Morales, he said fat people do not respond to prodding. “You can nag, you can cajole, you can browbeat — it doesn’t really matter,” Roker said. “It may even make it worse. We know we’re fat. We don’t need you to tell us. We know that, and when we’re ready to change, we’re going to change, so stop bothering us.” The exception was the dying wish of his beloved father, which is what finally got through to him.
From Jody: I am really interested to hear if many of you out there agree with this!
2. ONE STEP PROGRAM: I am paraphrasing here - Al said that his maintenance is like a recovering alcoholic. I am only 1/4 pounder away from falling off the wagon! That was a really powerful way to say it & I am sure many of you out there can substitute another food item for that 1/4 pounder.
We all struggle with this part of it! I have read posts recently of people struggling with the maintenance or even those that have lost a lot of weight but are at a point of mental fatigue... or at least motivation fatigue. They are lost or feel lost. This is NOT unusual. It is a life long journey! We all go thru this..... but we can get past it! Keep those successes close to your heart & in your mind. Find what will push you forward again.. whether it be your kids, family, lost loved ones to obesity related diseases.... you can keep moving forward. I have often written about how I am a work in progress forever. This IS A LIFE LONG JOURNEY! As my fellow blogger friend Kat likes to say: Gently moving forward!
3. No Magic Bullet: I have said this way too often about there is NO MAGIC PILL! Al said his bypass surgery was a way to help him lose weight BUT it is not the magic pill. You still have to be diligent, eat right and exercise.
Al says: “You can defeat the bypass, just as you can defeat any diet you’re on,” he said. “You have to be constantly vigilant.” That’s why Roker works out every morning before heading to work, and twice a week runs 4 miles in Central Park. I do a slow workout, which is high weights and slow repetitions, and I’m running,” the 55-year-old newsman, TV personality, author and entrepreneur said. “I’m training to see if I can do the New York City Marathon. I don’t know if I’ll make it.”
He also said this: “I like the way I feel now. So if I’m going to put this in my mouth, it had better be the most spectacular thing of whatever it is I’m going to eat now,” Roker told Curry and Morales.4. Losing weight does not solve all life's or your problems: I could not have said it better than Al Roker did:
He cautioned anyone contemplating gastric bypass surgery (From Jody - or losing weight the ole fashioned way) that losing weight doesn’t change who you are — just what you look like. “Now you’re a thinner person, but you still have the same problems,” Roker said. In response to a viewer question about his biggest ongoing hurdle, he added, “It’s just to realize it’s not the end. It’s just the means.”
Al also said that he battles, as I, Jody, still do too, with seeing that fatter person in the mirror. Intellectually, you know that you are thinner but often we don't see the changes like other people see them. That fat person is still lurking under there to trip you up. You have to get past that. For me, it has been a life long struggle & that fat person still sneaks out at times!
You can read the story here. There are also videos here and here.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the above, any or all of the points!
Before I start this post formally, I want to let you know that GoDaddy is at it again. I am having lots of problems. First they have been sending out email notification of my posts prior to the listed post time from me. Also, yesterday, it started again when they don't send my subscribers notification of a post. They just can't get it right on top of a number of other issues I have with their blog side of things. So, if you don't get notification of a post, come by anyway. I post every day so for now, GoDaddy is messing up again!
I happened to catch this segment on Al Roker, from the Today Show last week. For those that may not know him, he decided to get gastric bypass surgery to lose weight when his weight got as high as 340 pounds. His father was sick with cancer in the hospital when he said to Al: "Look. You’ve got to promise me that you’re going to lose weight. We both know I’m not going to be here to help you with my grandchildren. So you’ve got to promise me.” Al Jr. promised he would. That evening, his father lost the ability to speak. Three weeks later he was dead.
Al said some really interesting things in that segment about his journey, how he felt about losing weight before his father asked him on his death bed to promise to lose weight, the process, the pitfalls & yes, his perception of himself.
Here are some of the things he had to say:
1. First he said this: Like many morbidly obese people, Roker got plenty of advice from every quarter about his need to lose weight. But during a later segment he did with Curry and TODAY’s Natalie Morales, he said fat people do not respond to prodding. “You can nag, you can cajole, you can browbeat — it doesn’t really matter,” Roker said. “It may even make it worse. We know we’re fat. We don’t need you to tell us. We know that, and when we’re ready to change, we’re going to change, so stop bothering us.” The exception was the dying wish of his beloved father, which is what finally got through to him.
From Jody: I am really interested to hear if many of you out there agree with this!
2. ONE STEP PROGRAM: I am paraphrasing here - Al said that his maintenance is like a recovering alcoholic. I am only 1/4 pounder away from falling off the wagon! That was a really powerful way to say it & I am sure many of you out there can substitute another food item for that 1/4 pounder.
We all struggle with this part of it! I have read posts recently of people struggling with the maintenance or even those that have lost a lot of weight but are at a point of mental fatigue... or at least motivation fatigue. They are lost or feel lost. This is NOT unusual. It is a life long journey! We all go thru this..... but we can get past it! Keep those successes close to your heart & in your mind. Find what will push you forward again.. whether it be your kids, family, lost loved ones to obesity related diseases.... you can keep moving forward. I have often written about how I am a work in progress forever. This IS A LIFE LONG JOURNEY! As my fellow blogger friend Kat likes to say: Gently moving forward!
3. No Magic Bullet: I have said this way too often about there is NO MAGIC PILL! Al said his bypass surgery was a way to help him lose weight BUT it is not the magic pill. You still have to be diligent, eat right and exercise.
Al says: “You can defeat the bypass, just as you can defeat any diet you’re on,” he said. “You have to be constantly vigilant.” That’s why Roker works out every morning before heading to work, and twice a week runs 4 miles in Central Park. I do a slow workout, which is high weights and slow repetitions, and I’m running,” the 55-year-old newsman, TV personality, author and entrepreneur said. “I’m training to see if I can do the New York City Marathon. I don’t know if I’ll make it.”
He also said this: “I like the way I feel now. So if I’m going to put this in my mouth, it had better be the most spectacular thing of whatever it is I’m going to eat now,” Roker told Curry and Morales.
He cautioned anyone contemplating gastric bypass surgery (From Jody - or losing weight the ole fashioned way) that losing weight doesn’t change who you are — just what you look like. “Now you’re a thinner person, but you still have the same problems,” Roker said. In response to a viewer question about his biggest ongoing hurdle, he added, “It’s just to realize it’s not the end. It’s just the means.”
Al also said that he battles, as I, Jody, still do too, with seeing that fatter person in the mirror. Intellectually, you know that you are thinner but often we don't see the changes like other people see them. That fat person is still lurking under there to trip you up. You have to get past that. For me, it has been a life long struggle & that fat person still sneaks out at times!
You can read the story here. There are also videos here and here.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the above, any or all of the points!
Posted by truth2beingfit at 6/14/2010 9:00 PM 
Categories: Motivation/Support, Weight Loss, Health Issues, Cardio workout, Workouts, Health, Weights, Dieting, Challenges
Tags: body image Weight Loss Diets Al Roker Exercise obesity resistance training workouts health weights The Today Show challenges cardio
Categories: Motivation/Support, Weight Loss, Health Issues, Cardio workout, Workouts, Health, Weights, Dieting, Challenges
Tags: body image Weight Loss Diets Al Roker Exercise obesity resistance training workouts health weights The Today Show challenges cardio
The timing of your posts and my thoughts are never too far apart. I spent a few minutes with my ex-wife who had lap-band surgery last year. I had not seen her in six months.
She is down 65 pounds and look great. More importantly, she says she now moves and feels like never before in her life.
I asked her about food, and her succinct response was this:
"Every day is a battle, but based on the way I feel, it's a battle worth winning"
This conversation took place exactly 10 minutes before I read this post. Wierd, the timing you and I.....
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We are so often on the same wavelength! I am glad your ex is doing well & understanding the realities of it all. Another funny thing about us, my husband's ex-wife, who I am friends with, is also overweight & was obese too. She has been losing a lot of weight on her own & working at it diligently.
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Aw, that was nice of you to mention me...
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Jody,
I remember from several years ago - at a point in my life where I was definitely overweight - and how my wife was concerned. And yet - it wasn't her concern (and suggestions) that got me to make positive and healthy changes. It was me reaching a point where I told myself "enough"...and I wanted the changes for me. Once I reached that point, I was ready to change, ready to exercise, ready to eat more healthy choices.
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Lance, thank you for sharing this! We do have to be ready for us...
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This is so true Jody, I've struggled with this for awhile now. I am finally coming to terms that just because I'm skinny doesn't fix all the other things that seemed little at the time prior to weight loss.
I use to think it would, I did all along, but it doesn't. What it does though is give me the renewed inner strength to make it through all those other things that need to be fixed.
Having a positive attitude and confidence is like having a magic pill makes me feel like I can do anything!
Thanks for sharing this story.
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Sheri, great points!
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Yes - he's right. As a 305 morbidly obese person, no amount of prodding or feelings of guilt were enough to get me moving. It had to come from inside and it took a long time to get to that point.
I'm not a fan of surgery, but he proves that it is not a walk in the park. It takes hard work and dedication to be successful no matter how you lose weight.
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Diane, like Patrick, really good to hear from people that have been that heavy.. thank you!
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This post is great. I have never been that overweight although I feel like I was. I do believe if you have struggled with it it's an ongoing battle.
Like a smoker or alcoholic, YOU have to want to change. He was right about that.
When I get to 115 i'm going to be so happy...that is SO not true. I've been 107 and 140 and just like your post said, i'm the same person. I'm NOT comfortable in a bathing suit no matter what
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April, I so relate to your point!
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Oh I could write a book about this!!!! For me, it comes down to when you finally decide you are worth the effort! Often times, the nagging, the browbeating, the food police "concerned" loved ones and friends just feed the not worth it monster, as strange as that sounds.
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Jules, good points. Yes, we have to be ready & feel we are worth it!
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I'm a Today Show girl myself and saw this piece as well. It was really moving when he talked about knowing he had to do something because it was his father's last wish. I think you are right that people won't respond to others' pleas to lose weight unless they are ready. It sounds like Al Roker was ready and needed a wake up call to push him over the edge.
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Right or wrong fat people do not respond to prodding, this I agree with. Certainly from my perspective I've not been receptive in the past to others letting me know what I ought to do about my weight. One would hope that once they reach their healthy goals that they are a new person and can maintain their healthy ways with less effort. But i have heard so many say this is not true. Especially for those who were obese and got healthy; they do forever have to fend off the urge to return to the behaviors which contributed to their obesity. Which quite frankly sucks. But knowing that and accepting that is valueable and the earlier you do so in your mission to get healthy the better you can mentally prepare for the lifetime of effort needed.
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Patrick, it is good to hear comments from those going thru "the battle" or have gone thru it. THX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I saw this interview with Al. He makes some great points...getting to a healthy weight is a daily decision and a lifestyle not a diet.
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