Gregory P Brown
University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Medicine, USA
Title: From diet to lifestyle: Rethinking weight loss strategies
Biography
Biography: Gregory P Brown
Abstract
The long term medical and psychiatric effects of excess weight shorten life expectancy significantly, yet the typical medical model has been less than successful in providing solutions to what is typically considered a “lifestyle” problem. Much current research supports the notion that nearly 90% of weight loss attempts fail, but not only fail, actually cause harm due to weight gains that follow when the diet ends. However, longitudinal findings from large databases, such as The National Weight Control Registry, demonstrate that long term weight loss is possible in significant groups of people. That data set, which continues to grow, suggests that particular behaviors highly correlate with weight loss success long term. A brief mention at the end of most books on diet is the need to move mindset from a diet to a lifestyle, but none of those same books tend to describe how to accomplish this change in worldview and experience. The simple repetition of a new diet does not typically establish a diet into a lifestyle, because such common experiences as cravings rapidly degrade the newer healthy habits. As mental health professionals, we have a unique information set that can support this transition from diet to lifestyle for patients who have interest. By attending this talk, you will learn to assess and improve motivation for success, learn to directly deal with the feelings of deprivation, and help patients achieve internal congruence. This is the path of transforming a diet into a longstanding lifestyle.