SELF-HELP VS. PROFESSIONAL CARE: WHEN IS IT TIME TO SEE AN EXPERT?

Whenever we encounter a problem in our lives, whether it’s financial, emotional, physical, or what have you, our initial instinct is usually to try to solve it ourselves. Get a cut, put a Band-Aid on it. Break up with your boyfriend, and cry it out for a week. But what if the wound keeps opening up? Or, what if the crying lasts for more than six months? At what point do we know it’s time to seek professional help?

The answer to that question is of course situational, but the same set of criteria may apply, regardless of the type of problem. This also includes when it may be a good idea to seek help for weight loss.

The criteria include:

• Severity of the problem
• Motivation levels to change
• Need for information and education
• Need for accountability

Let’s review each of these in a little more detail as they relate to weight loss.

Severity Of The Problem
If you were to experience a heart attack, of course, the immediate action would be to go to the emergency room. The severity and risk levels are so high that professional care is needed right away. In the world of weight management, that severity level actually occurs at the point when body mass index is 30 or higher and/or when body fat percentage exceeds 21-24 percent for men and 33-36 percent for women (depending on age range). The outward signs may not be as obvious as a heart attack, but it does signal the tipping point for increased risk of related chronic conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. The prudent thing to do is practice healthy behaviors that keep your BMI and body fat percentage at lower levels. But once those numbers pop up in your world, it’s time to get seek professional care.

Motivation Levels To Change
Even when a problem hits you square in the face, it doesn’t necessarily translate into immediate problem-solving activities. Many people oddly have a very high tolerance for pain. A good example might be a toothache. Rather than go to the dentist, people will try to avoid using the bad tooth while eating and drinking. It’s silly, but it happens. With weight, that can mean carrying around excess pounds and fat for years, enduring the consequences that come along with that. But one day something may trigger change, whether it takes the form of a health scare, a hurtful comment, or the inability to play with your kids because of your weight. The reason for change will most likely be very personal to you. Whatever it is, it will spike your motivation to take the steps necessary to lose weight, which includes making an appointment with a weight loss expert.

Need For Information And Education
One risk of a self-help approach is potentially not having the most accurate information for effectively solving a problem. In today’s modern digital world, we suffer from information overload, and it can be hard to know which sources to trust. For instance, let’s say you find a website that tells you that you can lose 10 pounds if you eat cabbage soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And, let’s say you do this and find some success. But what you probably don’t know is that eating cabbage soup for all meals is not sustainable. If the statistics hold true, you will not only wind up eventually gaining more weight back than you originally lost but also may wind up damaging your metabolism in the process. The bottom line is that health-related problems rarely involve a straight-line solution. There is complexity that a medical professional can help you better understand so you can achieve your goals both in the short and long term.

Need For Accountability
When the cat’s away, the mice will play. This saying may summarize best why having someone to answer to is so beneficial to our progress and success. As much as we might not like to admit it about ourselves, if left to our own devices we’re probably not as productive as we’d like. But when we know that someone else is counting on us to show up, it presents a completely different dynamic. It is through the process of not disappointing someone else that we stay committed to a plan to achieve our goals. A classic example of this is increasing physical fitness. Hitting the snooze button on a Saturday morning is all too tempting versus going to the gym. But, if you scheduled time with a personal trainer, you’d be disrespecting him or her by not honoring the appointment. On top of being accountable to your trainer, you also benefit from his or her expertise in gaining physical strength, flexibility, and stamina. The same concept holds true for weight loss. By being accountable to someone who has an advanced understanding of your personal weight loss challenges, you increase your odds of staying on track to achieve your weight loss and health goals.

Of course, even when you seek professional weight loss support, this doesn’t eliminate the need for you to develop an increased level of personal fortitude. It is your life after all, so you will need to take ultimate responsibility for your choices. But with the help of the right expert, you can more easily incorporate better problem-solving skills into your daily life.