John Barrera, graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and our Food Editor, wants to lose 60 pounds. We introduced him to WestView News contributor, Nurse Practitioner Joy Pape. Joy specializes in weight management. While John catalogues the triumphs and tragedies of the West Village restaurant scene for the paper, he has also offered to share his very personal struggle to lose weight with WestView readers. Joy has accepted the challenge to team up with John and help guide him on his journey.
John has lost 10 pounds in the last month. When we talked last week, he said he had lost 10, but put 2 back on, which was a net of 8. Today he told me he’s taken off that 2 again. He knows why he gained it, and he knows why he lost it again. He gained it because he was eating out a lot which included drinking a lot of wine. He lost it because he gave up drinking alcohol for Lent.
John’s partially met his goals for last month which were to:
1. Walk his dog for at least 5 blocks, seven days a week.
2. Be prepared by having healthy foods in the house.
John walked his dog as planned, but did not always have healthy foods in the house. He can’t blame it on the weather or anything other than just being lazy at times. He realized that, without healthy food available, it’s easier to reach for whatever is there, which isn’t what he knows is best for him. He has also realized the amount of calories and carbohydrates he was taking in from drinking wine would not help him reach his weight loss goals.
We discussed John’s lifestyle. John has always been an “all or nothing” guy. I explained how losing weight is one aspect of this journey, and keeping it off is the other. People who don’t change their “all or nothing” ways usually gain back their weight, plus some. They think, “Now that I’ve lost my weight, I can go back to my old ways.” What they don’t realize at the time is it’s their old ways that got them overweight to begin with.
We then discussed simple ways to help him change from being an “all or nothing” guy during this period so when he does lose his weight, he’ll be living a healthier lifestyle that will allow him a better chance to keep it off. For example, eating out is a big part of John’s life. He’s a foodie. Nothing wrong with that. He will still be able to eat out, but learn how to eat less. When it comes to drinking alcohol, he wants to stay off during the 40 days of Lent. He will then reconsider if and how much he will drink.
Since John met his goals for walking his dog this past month, it has become a habit for him. Having healthy foods in the house has not.
His goals for the next month are:
1. Be prepared by having healthy foods in the house.
2. Add a formal exercise program. Once he decides what he will do, he’ll let us know what it is, how often, and for how long he plans to participate on a regular basis.
Although pleased with his ten pound weight loss, John doesn’t think he is losing weight fast enough, but I think John’s rate of weight loss is great. When it comes to losing weight, slow and steady is the way to go. This is not about a “diet” but finding one’s way to a way of eating you can live with. The fact he’s back on track is wonderful. Sometimes when people get off track, they can’t get back on. John is learning. I hope you are too.
