Slimming? Psychiatrist who lost four stones reckons it's all in the mind

Slimming? Psychiatrist who lost four stones reckons it's all in the mind

WHEN psychiatrist Fiona Watson looked in the mirror and saw a size 22 figure staring back at her, she realised she needed to do something.
What she did not realise was that the key to shedding the pounds lay partly in the techniques she used in treating her patients with drug and alcohol misuse problems.

Dr Watson, the clinical lead in substance misuse at NHS Lothian, lost four stone in 100 days and is now a size 14 thanks to a weight loss regime which included the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Now she thinks more people should have access to such therapies on the NHS to tackle the nation's growing obesity problem.
Dr Watson, 46, decided she needed to take action for the sake of her family.

"My family have a terrible history of heart disease and stroke," she said. "I have a son of eight and I the thought that he might lose me meant I had to do something."
She joined a weight-loss programme called LighterLife, which involves reducing calorie intake along with group counselling.

"You are encouraged to look at psychological reasons for over-eating and taught methods on how to control eating. It looks at how you are thinking and how to stop over-eating.
"As we were going through it I thought, 'hang on, I know all of this stuff'.

These are the same methods I use to help people with alcohol and drugs problems. The techniques are all the same, but I had never applied them to myself."
Dr Watson paid £66 a week to take part in the weight-loss programme.

But she said that CBT should be more widely available on the NHS for people who could not afford to pay.
"Obesity is a major problem and it is getting worse," she said. "When you think of all the health consequences, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, the cost to the NHS is huge.

If you got a health economist to examine the potential savings of paying for psychological therapies I'm sure you would see the long-term benefits."
Tam Fry, from the Child Growth Foundation, said access to psychological therapies needed to increase on the NHS for adults and children.
"It is not just about food and exercise, but the psychological impact as well," he said.

Dr Laurence Gruer, director of public health for NHS Scotland, said:
"There is more evidence that for a lot of people the way they eat is something like an addiction.
"There is a psychological element where eating is a way of coping when you feel unhappy. and are looking for comfort.

I sense that psychological therapies will gradually develop."
Were all PROGRAMMED..

...

its when you realise that...

..things start getting better :)
How could you have a 56 pound mind?

Serioulsy, I do believe any addiction is mostly mental-though a good rich bar of chocolate delight all the senses.
At least she got a weight off her mind.
I think the basic problem with Dr Watson's mind was that when she was a size 22, she thought she was a size 14.

She lost weight rapidly when she woke up to that realisation. It works the other way with anorexia sufferers too.
So she's right Jim, but not as she knows it.

Losing weight, reducing your waistline and generally shaping up (not always a total correlation) is easy even for a 64-year-old English gentleman . First move into your own apartment, because clearly No.1 wife has not separated caring from affection.

She’s either berating you for being fat, or nagging you for leaving food. Then fill the dents and get a respray. Which means get your hair dyed, your teeth scaled and polished and update your wardrobe.

But don’t go over the top, because pretty soon those clothes will be too big. Braces (suspenders) work with a spare tyre figure. Get a quality set of bathroom scales and keep accurate records.

Next get yourself a new girl friend or three. Say mid 20's, model girl looks, model girl figure, tall, sassy, intellectual, accomplished. No problemo; literally 10-a-penny here in Tokyo.

Once you can put yourself about with an attractive woman, the offers literally come out of the woodwork. Everyone’s so busy here that you need three girl friends to get two dates a week. Needs a little imagination to find an activity that doesn’t involve eating, or at least you eating.

But remember, it ain’t adultery till you hump her brains out. So no matter how much she begs, tell her you're just too embarrassed to get your kit off and consummate the relationship until you've improved your figure; weight and waistline. To which she’ll probably say, “Do have a slice of chocolate cake.

It really is so good.” Set something unrealistic, say reducing from 110 to 70. That applies to both weight in kilograms and waist measurement in centimetres.

Then it’s weight training in the gym for two hours everyday, which seriously dulls your appetite. But I’m sorry to report, does little to reduce the mass (that’s weight to you). Easier for you guys in UK to stop eating; I mean where's the temtation from British food?

Then take your mind off the eating habit, by for example, studying an academic subject. Physics was my bag. And rather than some salad-based wimp diet, announce you are going on a hunger strike over some crank cause.

For example, “Stop slaughtering whales” or “Tony Blair must resign”. But that could be any day now, so make that Arrest Tony Blair .
All in the mind?

I always suspected that psychiatrists were fat-headed.
As Granny used to say Nae fat bums in Belsen!
Message No 5 starts off discussing weight and ends up with a comment about Tony Blair?

???

???

???

? Maybe a little bit of some other professional help as well as weight reduction support, would be required ?!

There's no help for No 5. He's a complete basket case . Ignore him and maybe he'll go away.

what the hell is post No1 on about? Hey mr paranoid! get a life and stop walking straight into the hands of the people who want to 'control' you.