Super Bowl Postscript

February Blog

It was an exciting Super Bowl.  Unfortunate that the Patriot’s weren’t in it, but a true fan could appreciate that it was a well played game and that the outcome wasn’t decided until the game’s final play.  Afterward, a frequent comment was that “the winning team wanted it more.”  Often times we hear that a superstar is the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave.  Many ascend to and stay at the top of their game because they are ever striving to prove that they belong, to prove that those who doubted them are wrong, and to right some perceived slight or episode of disrespect.  There are many slogans emblazoned across work-out wear.  Two of my favorites are Nike’s “just do it” and the unattributed “hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.”

How is this relevant to a discussion of weight loss?  Because weight loss, more often than not, is a matter of commitment, a matter of desire, a matter of “wanting it more than anything else.”  Over the last 7 years I have had the honor and pleasure of working with over 1200 individuals striving to lose weight and in the process get healthier and happier.

What distinguishes the successful ones is that they are never outworked or “outhustled.”

The “biggest losers” are of course the greatest winners and they are metaphorically always the first to arrive and the last to leave.  The biggest losers are NOT smarter, faster, stronger, or blessed with any special talents, but they sure do want their weight loss more than those who don’t succeed.

Lap-Band, By-Pass, Sleeve, for that matter Weight Watchers, Atkins, and Jenny Craig are all JUST tools.  Each aspiring weight loser has to use these tools and use them to the best and most of their ability.  Most players in the NBA are tall and quick and well coached yet very few become Kobe, LeBron, or Michael.  In the NFL there are many who are big and strong and fast but few accomplish what Brady, Manning, and now Flacco have done.  The elite athletes make the most of their tools.  They realize that they have been given a great opportunity and they don’t squander it.  Don’t squander yours!

The analogy is not just to sport.  I am sure that we have all gone to school with, worked with, and known people who succeeded far beyond what would have been predicted if one merely “judged a book by its cover.”  It is never so much “the size of the dog in the fight” but rather “the size of the fight in the dog.”  You have got to want your weight loss.  You have got to work for your weight loss.  You have got to “sweat” for your weight loss.

I challenge all who read this to make NOW their time!  Decide, as they do at Notre Dame, to “play like a champion today!”  No more excuses.  No more procrastinating.  Commit to using the Lap-Band as a tool.  Do not be stopped.  You know what you need to do-START DOING IT!  The keys to weight loss are simple to state even if maddeningly difficult to apply:  eat good food, eat less of it, and move more.  Choosing to eat good food and to move more are absolutely a matter of mind over matter.  You just need to do it.  Eating less is where the Lap-Band comes in.  It is a tool to help you feel satisfied with less.

The Lap-Band is NOT designed to make you full.  It is NOT designed to improve your choices or to prevent you from eating certain foods.  The Lap-Band is there to help you feel satisfied with less.  It is there to allow smaller portions of good food to make you happy.  If your Lap-Band isn’t doing that for you then you NEED to come in so we can figure out why not and make sure we fix it.

I and the team are available to help.  I am in pretty much every day of the week.  Anne is available Monday and Tuesday.  Marianne is in on Wednesday and Thursday.  Julie is our “NP Friday.”  Jane offers Nutrition counseling Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Dr. Newman is with us on Tuesday and Friday.  Support Group meets twice a month.  The on-line group, Adam’s Family meets every Wednesday night from 7-8.  If you need me you can always reach me through the office 508-668-4400, by email adam@massweightloss.com, or on my cell 508-801-7018.

I look forward to seeing you soon. Go team!

Adam