Okay fellow Baby Boomers…let’s go through some history with our younger family members and colleagues concerning “cameras”. I remember a HUGE advance in cameras was the introduction of the immediate Polaroid. How exciting!!! Take a picture and within minutes a (very low quality) picture would come out of the camera. Amazing! Of course, because of the poor quality, we would still most often take the roll of out our Kodak and bring it to the local Walmart, CVS or other inexpensive film developing place and wait for several days to pick them up.
Ah, then the invention of the digital camera: high quality, no film required and all we had to do was take that little card out and get the pictures developed or attach the camera to the computer and see those pictures immediately.
Now? Everyone is a photographer and has a pretty darn good quality camera. AND, the same camera can call/text people, allow you to check sports scores, surf the internet and play video games for hours. Yes, the “Smart Phone”. With hundred of millions of photographers roaming our country you can count on every single moment being photographed and then most likely shared through social media.
The other day I had a new patient in the office for a consultation about the SP Program and she lamented, when asked why she wants to lose weight: “I am also tired of always running away from cameras”. This was meant to imply that she was not happy with her physical look and was embarrassed to have her picture taken.
I have (ad nauseum) detailed the many health reasons why weight control is so important. We do not that often focus on the aesthetics part, as the health implications, especially with the pandemic, are probably of higher priority. However, the confidence and self-esteem that accompany weight control should not be understated. One of the great “delayed gratification” rewards of losing weight is looking younger, more vibrant, wearing more stylish clothes etc.
When we feel “good” about ourselves part of that “feel good” is a self-perception (and others telling us) that we “look good”. This compels us to want to be seen in pictures and at events.
I reassured the new patient, as best I could, that similar to the scale, the camera will become her “friend” in fairly short order. Smile and say “PROTEIN”.
