Yesterday, Childhood Obesity News considered the Cracked.com perspective. Now let’s see what the much more mainstream Dr. Phil (Phillip C. McGraw) has to say about the escape from obesity. Of course, Dr. Phil is encouraging people to use his method, whereas Dr. Pretlow encourages obese children and teens to use the W8Loss2Go method, but the steps leading to change are the same for everybody. Dr. Phil’s “Readiness Profile” presents those steps in the form of a self-evaluation, and the correct answer to every question is “yes.” For example:
I am willing to look at my behavior honestly and answer to myself and other significant people in my life about my problems…. to confront myself and others honestly about how I sabotage myself or allow myself to get sabotaged…. to stop lying to myself, and to others, about things that blind me from being who I am…. to make my health and the control of my weight a top priority in my daily life.
I am at the end of my rope, and I know that I have nowhere to go but up at this point.
Yikes! All that adds up to a tall order. Those tools and methods for psychological housecleaning are arduous for even an adult to manage. Think about how difficult all these things are for a grown person, who presumably brings some experience and life skills to the table. It must be so much harder for a child, who has numerous other growing-up perplexities to deal with, or for a teenager, who among other issues, is beginning to suspect that adulthood is not as rewarding as it once seemed.
Plus, there are things in many families that children, and even teenagers, just doesn’t have any control over. If the work environment is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle change, an adult can decide to look for a different job. Kids are pretty much stuck where they landed. An adult can promise to eat differently, even if it hurts the feelings of a relative who specializes in ridiculously high-calorie cuisine, and even if refusal leads to interpersonal conflict. A kid doesn’t have that luxury.
You did what?
Dr. Phil’s list of questions assumes the quiz taker’s power to throw things away, like clothes that are too big and any problem foods that happen to be in the house. But kids can get in a lot of trouble for throwing away stuff bought with their parents’ hard-earned money.
Most adults have friends and associates who are not totally on board with their weight-management efforts, or who may even actively sabotage attempted reform. Dr. Phil is right to insist that such people need to be set aside, at least temporarily. This is also extremely difficult for grownups to do. For overweight young people, who need all the friends they can get — even if the friendships are toxic — shutting out certain people can be impossible.
Which of these necessary steps do young people have the autonomy to perform? For most kids, fulfilling the commitment to get more physical exercise is probably doable. They also have the ability to spend a great deal of time in positive self-talk, repeating affirmations that can powerfully influence the subconscious mind. And hopefully, the obese child or teen will have the moxie to carry out this requirement:
I am willing to talk straight about what I am doing, and not fool myself into thinking that anyone else can do this for me but me.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Are You Ready?,” DrPhil.com, 2003
Image by Ann Larie Valentine