I'd like to offer you some unsolicited weight loss coaching advice, derived from sport psychology principles. (As a psychologist, if you had solicited my advice, of course this wouldn't be an open letter. I'd be obligated to maintain confidentiality.)

One of the first things that we address in sport psychology is people's goals: goal setting, for sure-but also, goal review and re-calibration. This might be just the moment to think about the goals you set-to review and, perhaps, revise them.

Just as I would if I were working with your football team, I'd suggest that you consider a number of things about goals: the types and levels of your goals, the challenges that you experience, and the supports that would best help you achieve your goals.

You set out, some 5 weeks ago, to lose 50 pounds over a 5 month period. That's a very ambitious goal. You may have heard of "SMART" goals. That acronym stands for goals that are Specific, Measureable, Action-oriented, Reasonable, and Timed. From what I've seen in the media, it seems to me that your goal has many of the SMART elements. The one I'd question, though, is whether it's reasonable to expect to lose 50 pounds in that time frame-particularly if you have the long-term goal of not only maintaining that weight loss, but also losing some more weight.

It's also useful to think about the type of goal that you've set for yourself. In sport psychology terms, we'd describe this as an outcome goal, as compared with a process goal. Outcome goals speak to what one wants to have happen. Although they can be very motivating, they don't tell you what you need to do in order for them to happen. Process goals are the things that you can control, like what you eat, how much and how often. With process goals, you are aware of what type, frequency, intensity, and duration of physical activity is most useful to your weight loss plan. If you focus on the process goals, you're headed toward the outcome you want to achieve.

When I work with athletes, I encourage them to set different levels of goals, rather than just single goals. You have set this one number as the criterion for success. What if you created a few different goals, related to the 50 pounds? Things like: exercising X times per week, every week, for Q length of time. Or eating certain foods X times per week, every week, for Q length of time. And so on. Then, even if the magic 50 doesn't happen, you still have a series of important and meaningful accomplishments (and you're focused on process goals). Even with outcome goals, it can be helpful to set three different levels for yourself: excellent (that might be the 50 pounds), really good (perhaps that's 40), and an "I could live with myself if" (maybe that's 30). Research suggests that people tend to be able to make a 10% weight loss.

The major issue, of course, will be whether you can maintain that weight loss over time. What if you lose that 50 pounds, but then gain it back within another 5 months? That's what often happens to people who focus on weight loss rather than lifestyle change-and there are all kinds of negative health-and mental health-consequences. I hope you've got some longer term goals in mind. Like finding whatever seems to be the next weight loss plateau and staying there for long enough that your body adjusts to that weight before you put in the extra effort to lose more weight.

Over the past 5 weeks, the public record indicates that you lost: 10, 6, 4, 0, and 2 pounds. That weight loss curve isn't surprising. The combination of motivation, focus, and your body's capacity to adapt to whatever you throw its way is what we all face when we try to lose weight. And then, you have a fairly high stress job. No doubt there have been many moments when you've been tempted to shift back to former patterns of eating and exercise. You may have succumbed to SUBTLE: Seemingly Unimportant Behaviors That Lead to Errors, a term coined by psychologist Alan Marlatt to describe "slippery slope" behavior.

What an excellent opportunity for learning! Have you been tracking what is going on for you? Yes, there are the outcome numbers when you get weighed each week at City Hall. At the same time, there are so many other pieces of information that you have available, so that you can learn from this experience. Keeping regular written track gives you so much information-and is one of the most important aspects of behaviour change of any kind, weight loss included. Research suggests that what you write down will be less important than that you write it down. Some form of log will keep you accountable to you-and assist you in staying aware, learning, and modifying your behaviour.

I could suggest many other approaches as well, but let me conclude with one further really important element to your weight loss plan: supports. You have your brother and his plans for weight loss. That's great (though for some people, it could turn into rivalry and competition that could backfire). You've got a public method of accountability. That mix of people support and accountability is what makes programs such as Weight Watchers so effective. I hope, given your large ambitions, that you also have the support of a Registered Dietitian, who can assist with much of what I've talked about. And-if you ever need a behavioural health specialist, to help you with the mind-body interaction, feel free to let me know. After all, this is Psychology Month in Canada.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kate F. Hays, Ph.D., C.Psych.
www.theperformingedge.com