30 Dec Pledge the Pounds with VIM Clinic

Helping you commit to your New Year’s Goals

It is that time of year.  The Holidays are over and we are ready to hit reset on our personal health initiatives.  Whether you declare a New Year’s Resolution, commit to a Dry January, or go out and renew that gym membership once again, let’s agree to one thing – let’s do it together!  It’s widely believed that we will be more successful in these health measures if we share our goals with friends, family and anyone who will help us achieve better health.

Goal-directed therapy with motivational interviewing has become the new trend in healthcare to seek out what motivates each of us to actually change behavior.  It turns out changing behavior can be very hard (duh) and what motivates you to train for a marathon might not even get me off the couch.  For example, I had a patient who for years was struggling with losing weight until he decided the most important thing on his bucket list was to go sky diving.  It turns out that there is a weight limit to what a parachute can support.  100 pounds and a year later, he was sky diving!  What is going to motivate you this year?  It would be well worth your time to truly figure this out, and then put it to use.

Another critical element for success is goal setting and accountability.  Whether it be an Olympic athlete or someone trying to lose 5 pounds, we all perform better with accountability partners.  Isn’t that what our spouses, coaches, doctors and nurses have often done for us?  They help us set goals and then hold us accountable to achieve them, celebrating every inch we get closer to that goal.

At Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of Hilton Head Island, our goal is to improve the health of our patients and our community.  We are specifically focusing on Food as Medicine to help blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and many other conditions.  No one would argue that some of the food we eat can hurt us, but we are focused more on learning and teaching how good food can improve health and wellness.

Here is a fun medical fact.  The human body can only make fat in one specific way.  We use a powerful hormone named insulin to grab the excess sugar in our blood and turn it into fat.  So there you have it, we don’t make fat by eating fat, we make fat by eating sugar. Here is the kicker, when that process happens, our bodies stay so focused on sugar, and we are incapable of actually burning fat for up to 3 days! That’s even if you are eating salads and going to the gym.  Bummer, huh?

We want to help you join a community that will help you stay focused and achieve your goals with our Pledge the Pounds initiative. When we commit to a pledge, we tend to follow through.  Pledge the Pounds lets us share our goals, not only pounds, with those who will help us succeed.  Join the VIM Clinic Wellness community today and start your wellness journey with a community that supports you.

Another initiative that has begun with our community partners is to change the ask for food donations from pasta, rice, and cereal to diabetic-friendly food donations of beans, canned meat, eggs and healthy protein sources.  These thoughtful donations will be very helpful for those struggling with diabetes and obesity as they are learning new ways to shop and prepare food for themselves and their families.

Maybe it is time we pledge something more important than dollars.  So, what do you say?  Might we partner as a community in achieving our health goals this year?  Join the VIM Clinic Wellness community today and pledge your personal health goals with Pledge the Pounds at vimclinic.org/wellness. Together we can show how a community committed to each other can improve health and wellness.  We are ALL IN at VIM Clinic!