According to Gus Prosch, M.D., of Birmingham, Alabama, an obesity specialist who has treated tens of thousands of overweight patients since 1965, there are seven critical truths or facts relating to the problem of obesity, as well as seven fallacies.
“These truths and fallacies are accurate 99 percent of the time,” says Dr. Prosch. “Understanding these before any entry into a weight control program will save an overweight person much time, effort, money, and disappointment.” The seven truths about obesity:
1. If obese, you have a lifetime disease.
2. Your metabolic processes will always tend to be abnormal.
3. You cannot eat what others eat and stay thin.
4. Anyone can lose weight and stay slim provided the causes of weight gain are deter-_ mined, addressed, and corrected.
5. Understanding insulin metabolism is the key to intelligently losing weight.
6. There is absolutely no physiological requirement for sugar or processed foods in your diet.
7. You cannot lose weight and keep it off successfully by strictly and solely following any special diet, or by taking a weight loss pill, or by following an exercise program, To succeed, you must address all the contributing factors causing obesity.
The seven fallacies about obesity:
1. Fad diets can successfully make you lose weight and keep the weight off.
2. Most physicians can successfully make you lose weight and keep the weight off.
3. Today’s many and varied weight loss programs and weight clinics can successfully and permanently make you lose weight and keep the weight off.
4. Past experiences show that counting calories is a good way to help you lose weight and keep the weight off.
5. Your weight problem is caused from overeating and/or lack of exercise alone.
6. If you could only lose enough weight to get slim you could keep your weight off from then on.
7. There is no way that you can lose your weight successfully and keep the weight off.