Weighty Wednesday--Pavlov's Dogs

I debated various names for this particular blog, anything from Head Games (the Foreigner song) to Psych 101 to You want Fries with that? I thought Pavlov had an interesting theory that was very pertinent to our ability or inability to lose weight.

In a Margaret nutshell, Pavlov came up with the idea of the "conditioned reflex". Stimulation is provided and the dogs would react to the stimulation by drooling because they knew they would be fed. Positive and negative reinforcement has been used to test this theory over the years. Think of the rats running the maze. They get zapped, they avoid a particular area until they can figure a way around an obstacle to get to the food (positive reinforcement).

Losing weight is a head game that you have to play. We aren't talking about eating to survive here. Think about it. For years and years, you have developed certain responses to stimuli. No matter the stimuli, you get the positive reinforcement from eating. Eating is a pleasurable. We like to be happy.

If you're sad, you eat.
If you're bored, you eat.
If you're happy, you eat.
If it's dinner time, you eat.
If you aren't hungry, you eat.
If you overfilled your plate, you eat it because you were taught to clean your plate.

And these are just a few eating situations that we have to overcome. It's a mind game.

It's the beginning of the year and many people are realizing that they need to get serious about their health and weight. Everyone has different reasons for losing weight, just as they have different food triggers. We are all in this together.

One of my writer friends commented that she can't go to bed when hungry, so she's grazing after dinner. My comment was, "Are you really hungry? Or do you just think you are?" She realized she had programmed herself to snack in the evenings. There's a reason food commercials are put on during certain times of the day.

Your challenge is to find something else to occupy your mind when you think you're hungry.

• drink a glass of water
• walk around the block
• crochet, knit or do needlework
• brush your teeth

It all comes down to breaking the cycle. And the only person who can break the cycle is YOU.

Good luck! If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please feel free to post your opinion. If you don't want to put your question on a public forum, then send me an email, margaret.golla @ gmail.com (without spaces). I don't have all the answers, but I have defused some of the mind games.

Oh, I almost forgot. I lost another 2.2 pounds! I've lost a total of 38.6 pounds. The last six weeks have been gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, and I'm tired of it! I'm 1.4 pound from losing 40 pounds! I'm so close I can taste it. Next weigh-in I'll succeed.

But I've had the positive reinforcement of buying a new pair of jeans. When you can pull your jeans down without unzipping them, then that's a good thing! I honestly can't remember the last time I could wear a size 6, so this was exciting. Bra shopping wasn't so successful.

Later, Peeps!