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The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Giving Up

May 23, 2013 - 0 Comments »

There are different levels of tenacity.  Do you consider yourself highly tenacious or not?  When you are given a task at work, do you sink your teeth into the project like a Pit Bull and not let go until your mission is completed?  How about when  you are faced with a complicated “put together” project like a gas grill from the box or piece of furniture from Ikea?  Do you have lots of patience and read through the directions carefully or are you more apt to say:  ”f— it, (uh…..that should be “fuggetaboutit….not the other thing you were thinking), I will hire someone to do this”?  When you are down 40-15 at set point, having lost the last set 6-2, do you compete really hard to not lose the match or do you feel your competitive juices drain and basically start thinking about shaking your opponent’s hand and congratulate him/her?  (By the way, I really HATE having to do that shake the hand thing, make small talk, etc….all i want to do is get the hell out of there).  Okay, now lets switch to the weight loss arena.  How close do you get to giving up your efforts?   Do you feel this way when you are losing weight very slowly?  Does this sensation come over you when you exercise lots and do not see the results on the scale?  The “giving up” mental state id deleterious and must be avoided.  How do you avoid getting into this mode? Take pride and ownership in your abilities to navigate challenges.  Do you consider yourself a “winner” or a “loser”?  Quite frankly, sorry to be prejudiced, but ALL of my wonderful patients are “winners”  YOU have succeeded in so many aspects of your life…from your professional accomplishments to your monetary worth to your parenting skills, and more.   You have never displayed the “give up” mentality in any other aspect of your life.  Don’t start now.

The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Picking Your Poisons

May 23, 2013 - 0 Comments »

Sometimes the loss of weight or avoiding the gaining of weight is next to impossible.  For instance, you are going on a 7 day cruise to Nassau.  That ship has great food, luscious Pina Colladas and desserts you can die for.  Any chance of you losing lots of weight?  Little to none.  How to mitigate the damages?  Pick and choose your poisons.  Here is what I mean: Take a pen and piece of paper out before your trip and write down all the things you think may derail your weight loss efforts:  1- not exercising 2- eating desserts 3- drinking alcohol 4- going to the buffets 5- eating late at night at the 24 hour pizza and burger bar 5- allowing carbs and fruits into your dietary plan.  Your own list may have more items.  I suggest you go down that list and “ex” out 50% of the list.  Allow yourself 1/2 of those derailing activities but be steadfast in not allowing the other 1/2.  Pick the poisons that will make you feel great in that you are 1-not feeling totally deprived and 2- you are getting your money’s worth.  Coming back from that cruise either at the same weight or 1-2 pounds of gain is a sure lot better than coming back up 5 pounds and beating yourself up.  The cruise was one example.  Memorial Day..beach week for many.  Make that list, and then take the white out to half of that list.  The aim of your weight loss efforts is to become healthier and happier, not to “ruin” your vacations.  The poisons will always be out there…learn how to pick and choose them and not allow them to choose you.

The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Mel Brooks Trivia Time..and Yogurt

May 17, 2013 - 2 Comments »

Okay, any Mel Brooks fans out there?  He is the director of classic spoof pictures such as Young Frankenstein (Where Wolf?  There Wolf) and Blazing Saddles (the eating beans around the camp fire scene).  One of my favorites:  Spaceballs, which spoofed all the Star Wars pictures.  There was a scene when the Harrison Ford /Hans Solo character (played by Bill Pullman) lands on a planet and meets the Yoder character.  However, the Yoder is called Yogurt, and is played by Mel Brooks himself as a little leprechaun-type character with a Jewish/Yiddish accent.  Hans Solo and the Chewbaca character (played by the late John Candy)  are overtaken with awe as they meet Yogurt and say:  ”It’s Yogurt, the magnificent”, “Its Yogurt the Almighty”, “It’s Yogurt, the Wonderful”….and then the Yogurt character says, in a very funny Yiddish/Jewish accent, “No, No, No boys, no more fuss…I am just PLAIN YOGURT.”  So now, as all of you are thinking that Posner has finally lost it and writing old movie reviews instead of a focused blog that may help your weight loss efforts, here goes:  The “Greek Yogurt” that everyone is now infatuated with is NOT the type of protein we stress in the SP Program.  As long as your yogurt intake (considered a dairy in our program) is 80 calories or less, I do not care whether it is Greek, acidophilus containing or PLAIN yogurt.  The Greek yogurt should NOT be used in the counting of your protein exchanges.  We have found that the “traditional” proteins, in the forms of poultry, seafood, fish, edges, and yes, even red meat are much better for weight loss than any other form of protein, including the “Greek” yogurt.   And now, WITHOUT THE USE OF THE INTERNET, the first 10 people that answer this trivia question correctly get a free bottle of Serotonin-Plus:  Which actress played the Princess Leia character in Spaceballs?

The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Summer

May 16, 2013 - 0 Comments »

Finally, we are seeing temperatures where they should be this time of year and as difficult as it is to believe, next week all of the community pools open up.  Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial commencing of the summer season and for most, pools and beaches are part of the summer.  This also means wearing swimsuits and being “seen” by others.  Does weight control affect our desire to avoid these situations?  Is there a gender difference in this sensitivity?  I believe that no one will dispute that at a more ideal body weight, most people will have no problem wearing a pretty revealing bathing suit out in public.   I believe that females tend to be more sensitive about this situation, as once again, guys get more of a social “mulligan” on these issues.  There are so many fun events, parties and other social functions during the summer that revolve around a water setting, and to avoid these functions because of a weight sensitivity is unfortunate.  How to correct this?  1- Try to NOT let a perception that others will “judge” you based on your weight affect your desire to attend and 2- lose the weight so you do not feel self-conscious.  Clearly, on the priority list of why you should lose weight, this reason falls close to the bottom, but when your company has that special pool side function and you are getting ready for this and feel the need to just not show up, then this reason does come a bit higher on the list.  Losing weight allows you to be more comfortable around others and heightens self-confidence.  There is no immediate gratification food source that does this.

The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: " I am TIRED of…"

May 14, 2013 - 0 Comments »

Fill in the blank….”I am tired of______”.  My list?  The Met’s losing, having stiff back muscles in the morning, waking up at 5 in the morning, even when I do not have to, watching new stories about crooked politicians, the traffic lights not being synchronized on Route 123 in the mornings, and the list goes on and on and on.  How about your list?  What are you “tired” of?  For any of you experiencing daily pain of any sort, this would most definitely be on your list.  For those taking medications, I would bet this is on the list as well.  Would your list be shortened by effective weight loss?  Absolutely.  Sometimes I hear from a new patient entering the program this statement: “I am TIRED of being fat.”  I quickly tell the patient that we do not use the “f” word in our program (the “C”–cheat and “d”–diet words being the others we do not allow).  However, I believe what the person is really saying is that he/she is tired of the accompanying symptoms that are a part of being overweight.  This also includes being tired of feeling tired.  Shorten your list…and how?  to lift the quote off of our Serotonin-Plus teeshirts:  Just Lose It!