Has Love Been Good To You?

Okay, based on the title to this entry, one would think that we are about ready to delve into a discussion about relationships and how wonderful or toxic (or both) have been in your lives.  Sorry to disappoint, but as I am “Dr. Bob” and not “Dr. Phil”, our “love” discussion will be focused on the weight control arena.

Often, when I discuss the SP Program with a new patient, when I bring up the need to curtail/eliminate certain foods/drinks I will hear this refrain:  “But I LOVE my_____”. Filling in the blank may include:

• Wine
• Chocolate
• Ice cream
• Pancakes

The list goes on and on for the “loves” I hear of high caloric/high carb derailing food and drink sources that sabotage a successful weight control journey.

Let’s switch gears here and think about the other “loves” of our lives that are not consumables:  I love_____

• Family members
• My dog/cat
• Taking vacations
• Hiking
• Biking
• My work

And that list goes on and on as well for “loves” in/of our lives that are very healthy and happy for us but not derailing of our weight control efforts.

This entry was inspired by a Frank Sinatra song I heard the other day, “Love’s Been Good To Me”.  So as I started thinking about the people and things that we all refer to as animate and inanimate objects we use the word “love” for.  Concerning weight control, the non-consumable items we list as “loves” are quite beneficial for us. However, the consumable “loves” tends to not be very “good” to us as they can produce, in the aggregate, a whole bunch of really bad medical conditions that hurt us badly.

If you want to be like Old Blue Eyes and croon about how much love has been good to you, focus on “loving” the non-consumables and try to fall out of “love” with those food/drink sources that are gonna hurt you.

And tonight, when all your day’s duties are over, grab the hand of your very special loved one and listen to this very calming Frank Sinatra song.