One of the many lessons I have learned in my 40 years of being a doctor: People are very different in many different ways. From the medical aspect, it is amazing how different can be when it comes to such things:
- The speed of healing
- The interplay of mood/mind and body
- The response to different types of medications
- Pain tolerance
This bullet point “medical list” can go on and on and on: Due to different genetic variations and different environmental exposures we all present unique, individual “cases” that often require unique/individual approaches. The concept of a “one size fits all” approach to patient care simply is not viable. Yes, there are a number of similarities that may exist between people. However, I believe it is very important as health care providers that we remain very aware that every patient will present with unique characteristics and therefore, may require unique treatment strategies.
Let’s now focus on the weight control arena. The concept of “individualism” applies here as well. We have many patients that are able to drink a mild/moderate amount of alcohol whereas others cannot have one drink without derailing their weight loss. There are some patients that need to incorporate some element of exercise into their lives to lose weight whereas others can lose weight simply on altering their dietary intake with no exercise. There are a number of patients that can lose lots of weight in Phase 2 of our plans whereas others need to stay more with Phase 1 or modified Phase 1.
Here is the point: YOU need to explore and test what works best for YOU. If you find that having that weekend wine destroys the entire week of weight loss efforts, clearly you should not drink wine on the weekends. If you find your weight loss is minimal on the weeks you do not exercise then ensure a weekly dose of exercise. If you notice that weight loss is minimal if you drop your protein intake to less than 10 exchanges a day, then make certain you keep your protein intake higher than 10 exchanges a day.
The intent of our SP Program is not to “rush” as much weight off of you as possible, but rather, help you explore and understand what approaches work best for YOU. Then, going forward, these approaches need to be continued for continuing success.
Yes, we can listen to other people’s music but when it comes to controlling weight, we need to sometimes make our own kind of music. And for those 1960’s music fans out there, please enjoy an oldie from Mama Cass.
