Beginning with Biology

I was both eager and anxious to have my first Greenlight session. I felt motivated and intimidated, empowered and  powerless, and any number of other paradoxical emotions.

Each session begins with a simple weigh-in followed by the question "does that make sense to you." In this case I had maintained the weight I recorded at my assessment about a month prior, which I suppose made sense given that I had changed none of my behaviors and that I had been especially generous in my food choices leading up to my first session - after all, what if it was my last chance to have the foods I love the most?

We then moved into a conference room with a oft-used white board and a conference table and chairs. It was comfortable while at the same time reinforcing the idea that this process was going to be different than your typical sit-in-the-overstuffed-chair-and-talk model of counseling (a model I also love) - this was going to be about classroom-style teaching and learning. 

But if Cherie (the counselor) was serving as the teacher, she was the sort of teacher with whom you would stay in contact long after classes end. She made clear from the beginning that where I felt weakness she saw strength, and that she respected me as a person who has been fighting a battle (albeit without the best weapons). 

We started by looking at positive and negative aspects of weight-loss. At the outset I thought, "negative aspects, I doubt it," but as I was forced to consider the possibility, I realized that there are some downsides: Not being able to eat whatever I want! The expense of healthier food choices. The challenge of learning to think through food choices differently. No longer partaking in the delicious high-fat appetizers at happy hours. 

None of those was enough to dissuade me, but they did give me a more realistic outlook. 

Then we launched into biology. Here is what I learned:

• Everyone has a different number of fat cells. Those with more fat cells "hear" their hunger signals much "louder" than those with fewer. They are hungrier. Those born to parents who are overweight are born with more, and fat cells cannot go away. 
• Genetics make a difference, but environment can make a huge difference. 
• There are a variety of body types. Mine, type 'C', is particularly efficient at storing fat (which would have been fantastic if I lived at a time when I had to hunt my own food...). For instance, if I ate a 100 grams of fat my body might store 92 of those grams. Another person's body might store 10% fewer, which over time really adds up. 
• There are three things that successful weight controllers consistently do (this is based on research from the National Weight Control Registry):
• Eat a low-fat diet (30% or less of total calories are from fat)
• They log. They keep track of calories, or fat, or some aspect of their eating
• They exercise 
• If you are overweight (or at least if you are a type 'C' body), the balance between eating and exercise should be around 80/20. If you have greater capacity and overeat there are too many calories to burn off with reasonable amounts of exercise. 

Perhaps the most impactful part of the first session came from the discussion of the harm reduction principle that is the foundation of the Greenlight program. There are three components.

1. Perfection is the enemy of good. Learn to be good at good enough.
2.  One size doesn't fit all. 
3. Something is better than nothing. 

I felt as if those were written for me - not even just as it relates to food, as it relates to everything. The idea is to mitigate the harm. I will be thinking about that as I go to sleep.

Finally we talked about logging, which for this program means writing down what I eat and much fat it contains. No need to count calories or carbs (though it is important to be conscious of the calories). Oh, and I should note there are four loopholes to the low-fat foods-are-fine mantra: cereal, bread, sugary candy, and beverages. Those things are all low-fat, but the calories in them can add up quickly. 

So, I left my first session with homework: think about the positive and negative aspects of weight loss and start logging; and with two SMART goals: log 4 days (pencil and paper), and stay within my fat-gram goals on 2 of those 4 days. Seems pretty simple. So far so good.