HABITS ARE HARD: PART TWO

By Rick Green

It’s almost noon now, so I’m going for lunch.

I could pick up some junk. I could choose something healthy. I’ve noticed they cost about the same. The point of all this is that I’m noticing how often I resist a good habit or doing something that needs doing because it’s ‘hard.’

Some things are definitely harder than others. Or certainly less exciting for my brain. (Doing taxes vs doing comedy.) But eating something healthy? I get that my body is trained to crave all that salt and sugar. It’s gonna give me a rush right away. But I’m thinking maybe I’m smarter than that….

I’m back. Bought a salmon sandwich and a salad with balsamic dressing. And blueberries for dessert. It may sound silly, but it’s a victory. I was conscious of resisting good habits, and I chose to not do that!

Read the first part of this blog post ‘LIFE IS DIFFICULT! COMPARED TO WHAT?’

ADHD and obesity. Treatment really makes a difference.

My last blog described a case history of a very obese male patient who could not manage any diet or lifestyle changes, while being very adept at running a complicated business. Let me tell you what we found out about Peter.

To make a long story short, when we managed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, we noted that while he could exert great focus on matters that were highly time sensitive, interesting, and important, he could not spend time on himself. He was unable to change focus from work activities to self care needs if he was involved in the business. He did not stop for food, got very hungry, and then binged once the work was over. He recognized his problem, but seemed powerless to stop work for even 15 minutes to have lunch. Read more

ADHD: How Weight Gain and Weight Loss Failure, are Two Sides of the Same Coin

By Lance David Levy B.Sc., M.B., Ch.B., M.Sc., FRCP(C)Director of the Nutritional Disorders Clinic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and author of Conquering Obesity. For more information, visit www.drlancelevy.com

Most days I see several new patients who were referred to me for the management of obesity. As obesity has become public health problem number one, everyone working in this field is trying to figure out why we have an ever increasing number of kids and adults who are overweight or obese, and as a consequence are facing serious health risks. Almost without exception, these individuals have tried all sorts of diets over the years and have not managed to lose weight and keep it off.

For many years it was felt that failure at weight loss was due to a lack of knowledge about diet, exercise and general lifestyle change. Often, seriously obese people were thought to be lazy or unmotivated. A research project I managed in 1985 showed that almost everyone with chronic obesity knew what they ought to do to lose weight; the problem was they could not sustain any method over a long enough time to be successful. Read more