How many times have you been on a diet in your lifetime? Some people are successful in losing weight in the short-term, but once they abandon their diet of choice the weight piles back on.

Those who actually commit to long-term lifestyle changes are typically more successful in keeping the weight off.

Dr. Jennifer Selensky, clinical health psychologist at WakeMed Health, shares tips for people who want to lose weight in a smart, healthy way.

The QQF Approach

When approaching weight loss, or simply the desire to become a healthier person overall, it’s important to have goals. However, they need to be realistic.

“When it comes to setting goals for a lifestyle change, we want to make those goals very specific and reasonable. We want to ensure they can fit into our lifestyle,” states Dr. Selensky. “For example, it’s unrealistic to say, ‘I’m going to cut out an entire food group for the rest of my life.’ It’s really hard to sustain those changes. Oftentimes, when we go back to what is truly our lifestyle, we regain that weight.”

The most effective way to go about this is to take a “small changes” approach. Dr. Selensky uses the acronym QQF: quality, quantity, frequency.

For example, if you’re eating fried chicken for dinner every night of the week, a way to change the quality would be to switch to grilled chicken. A way to change the quantity would be cutting the portion in half. Changing the frequency could mean eating chicken every other night or every third night to start.

Some foods are easier to cut out of your eating habits than others. But for those “non-negotiable” foods, QQF is a good strategy. It also avoids thinking of foods from a binary good/bad perspective.

Managing Setbacks

A weight loss or healthy eating journey isn’t a linear migration. There will be plateaus and peaks, as well as setbacks.

“When we do have a setback, the most important skill anyone can learn is how to rebound from that setback,” notes Dr. Selensky. She uses the analogy of dropping your smartphone and getting a small crack on the screen. You wouldn’t say, “Well, it already has a little crack so I might as well just stomp on it and make it worse.”

Instead, you tend to be a little more careful with your phone. Maybe you don’t text and walk at the same time.

“We need to apply that type of thinking to our health goals as well. Just because you made one mistake or you indulged, it doesn’t mean you have to respond by going completely off the program, going back to that all-or-nothing, catastrophic thinking.”

Being aware of negative thoughts, as well as understanding that we all have emotional attachments to certain foods, helps people work through those times when a setback occurs.

Supplement Your Weight Loss Journey

Physical Activity

Food isn’t the only factor in weight loss. Physical activity is equally important. Try to find an activity you enjoy, instead of forcing yourself to become a runner or toiling for an hour every day on the stair stepper.

Sleep

Sleep is also a key component.

“Sleep affects the hormones that tell us when we’re hungry and when we’re full. So, getting a good night’s sleep is also really important,” explains Dr. Selensky.

Genetics

Sometimes, a biological or genetic component keeps people from being successful in their weight loss efforts. Medical interventions can be effective in such cases.

“It’s not always just about emotional eating or ‘making up your mind,’ there can be other biological factors as well,” she adds.

Set Small, Attainable Goals

By making lifestyle shifts, your body will be much better equipped to sustain weight loss in the long term. You don’t have to make every change overnight, either. Begin with what seems the most attainable to you.

“Start somewhere that makes it easy for you to achieve a goal, because then we build up momentum and we feel good about accomplishing it. It’s a big misconception that shame or making ourselves feel bad about something will promote change, that’s really not true,” shares Dr. Selensky. “Really, when we feel good about what we’re doing and we feel confident in the changes we’re making, we want to continue going in that direction.”

WakeMed Can Help with Weight Loss Support

Would you like to learn more about weight loss and determine goals for your health? At WakeMed, we have a variety of services and specialties to help.

Primary Care

If you schedule an appointment with one of our WakeMed Primary Care providers, we are happy to talk more about weight loss and your specific situation.

Medical Weight Loss

From our board-certified physicians with expertise in medically-directed weight loss, to bariatric surgery and non-surgical weight loss procedures, to our multidisciplinary team of diet and exercise specialists, our Medical Weight Loss team enjoys working closely with our patients to determine the best path to good health.

Outpatient Nutrition Services

Our licensed, registered dietitians in outpatient Nutrition Services are committed to providing evidence-based, scientific nutrition advice. They can help with weight management and nutritional care related to bariatric surgery.

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About Jennifer Selensky, PhD

Dr. Jennifer Selensky is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized training in clinical health psychology. She has a wide range of interests from weight loss and health behavior change to chronic pain and substance use disorders to psycho-oncology, palliative care, and grief and loss. The common thread among Dr. Selensky’s diverse clinical background is that she enjoys taking a biopsychosocial approach to treating the whole person and helping people make and adjust to significant changes in their lives. She earned her doctorate in health psychology and master’s in clinical psychology from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. Selensky completed a clinical health psychology postdoctoral residency at VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Selensky is a scientist-practitioner who takes an interpersonal, collaborative approach to her clinical practice. She believes in providing patient-centered care by using an eclectic, evidence-based approach to assessment and intervention to meet her patients’ unique needs and goals. Additionally, Dr. Selensky enjoys working together as a team with her colleagues to provide their patients with the best possible care. In her free time, Dr. Selensky enjoys spending time with her friends and family, being outdoors, playing tennis, relaxing at the beach, and reading.

To listen to an in-depth conversation on this topic with Dr. Jennifer Selensky, clinical health psychologist at WakeMed Health, please visit her Find a Doctor page.

 

Disclaimer: The advice of individual medical providers serves as guidance from the specific provider and is not intended to establish standards of clinical practice or rules of law for WakeMed Health and Hospitals.