The BATL Plan
Pronounced: "The Battle Plan"
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Dr. Strange's
BATL Plan
by John E. Strange, MDThis site is currently under development.
E-mail us if you would like to be automatically notified when the site becomes active.
This is my story of weight control - how and why I developed this program. You, too, can learn how to be in control of your weight rather than weight controlling you.
______________________________________________
The Elation of Jubilation
I remember the exact time when the elation of weight control first hit me. Although I am a medical doctor and should have known better, I had been overweight for over 35 years. Struggling with yo-yo diets throughout this period, I had convinced myself that "I didn't look too heavy," even though I was 140 pounds overweight. I found myself in deep denial. Denial is a defense mechanism where the body tricks you into ignoring what is obvious to everybody else. The powers of denial are strong. Medical doctors struggle with denial, too. I felt that I was "a little heavy," but I also believed that I didn't look "that bad." I was wrong on both counts. I was 5' 8" tall and weighed 310 pounds. I looked worse than bad, I looked like a round balloon. My kids call it my "balloon-man days."
My difficulties were always apparent to loved ones around me. When my oldest daughter, Sara, was young, I was teaching her how to play softball. I told her that if she was having difficulty with a skill to never to give up. I said that she made me proud when she tried hard, then tried again if she failed at something. She was six years old. One day she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Daddy, do you know what makes me the proudest of you? You try to lose weight. You never do, but you never give up." She understood the concept of never giving up. I was very pleased that she had grasped this notion of determination. Her grit has served her well over the years. Yet, I was distraught about my failures. How could she know that the very thing that made her the proudest made me so ashamed? That was in 1983.
My yo-yo struggle with weight continued for another 25 years. The weight gain didn't come all at once, but gradually. I often looked in the mirror and told myself something had to be done. That was usually the start of another yo-yo diet. I'd lose some weight. I'd gain some weight. I'd lose more weight. I'd gain it all back and more. Eventually I came to accept that I would always be "a little heavy." After all, through my eyes I didn't look "that bad." Denial became my ally. This defense mechanism allowed me see things differently from way they actually were. I weighed 310 pounds, I looked like a balloon, and I made jokes. I told people that THEY looked thin because they were standing next to me. I would tell people that I always ate healthy: "I ate healthy portions." I said that I was on a seafood diet: "I see food and I eat it." Sadly, that wasn't far from the truth. Shakespeare was right: "Many a truth are said in jest." Comedians say that there must be some truth in a joke for it to be funny. When I saw food I ate it - that was my reality. It wasn't funny. Choosing to eat all that I wanted gave me a sense of control. I felt that I was in control because I CHOSE to eat. Again, I was wrong.
Even though I became a type II diabetic and knew much better, I didn't monitor my blood sugar closely. It was deep denial that let me ignore this very important test. One day, however, I happened to check my blood sugar. It was so far out of normal that I was shocked. No, I was alarmed. Thank goodness for this very important wake up call! Thank goodness that the wake up call was not a heart attack, a stroke, or worse. Thank goodness that I had time to change my lifestyle before something really bad happened. I am so blessed. I can't begin to count the many ways. Someone is looking out for me.
I finally told myself that this weight problem had to stop. I simply had to come up with a way to beat the weight. This wasn't the first time that I had said that to myself. This time, however, would definitely be different. Sadly, I had said this before, too. Each time that I said it in the past, I truly believed it at the time. THIS TIME, I felt something different. THIS TIME, I just had to find the formula for success. I was convinced that this was my last chance at life. It probably was.
I remembered the lectures on nutrition that had been given in medical school. I started studying and reading about the theories of weight loss. I mixed in a lot of common sense with the knowledge. I sat down and wrote my BATL Plan based on behavior modification with a foundation of important medical concepts. Then, I followed my own BATL Plan and started on my weight loss journey. I knew it would be a very long road, which is the reason everybody is reluctant to seriously get started - especially when there is significant weight to lose. I knew that I must make the program enjoyable so that I would be motivated to stay on it, even after I had reached my weight goal.
As I developed the program, it was obvious that weight loss must come through behavior modification rather than through dieting. Only by changing behavior can yo-yo deiting be eliminated to keep the weight from coming back. The winning formula is very basic: Do the behavior, the results will come. This is just as true in any field of endeavor, as it is with weight loss. Only when we learn to change our behavior can we be in control of our results throughout a lifetime. This is the reason that diets ultimately fail. We don't learn anything from a diet. We look forward to the day that we are not on the diet. No, actually we yearn for the day that our diet is over. When our diet is over, after we have lost the weight, we simply go back to our weight-gaining denial-controlled ways. Most people celebrate with a large meal. The weight always comes back. This is yo-yo dieting at its finest.
The ultimate goal of my weight loss program is for other people to lose their excess weight and keep it off. If people gain back any of the weight that they have lost while on the program, I will have failed. I must convince others that keeping it off is key. I created a website to present the program - to help people in all parts of the world. www.BATLPlan.com was launched. This site is an online low-cost way that gently develops the BATL behavior modification program. Members receive weekly tips of weight loss, exercise, recipes, eating out advice, and more. Each week is designed as a motivational baby step towards weight control for life through behavior modification. BATL, pronounced "battle," is an acronym for Behavioral Adipose Tissue Loss. (Adiose tissue is the medical name for fat.)
I knew the behavior modification techniques and my increased knowledge would fuel my weight loss to ultimate lifetime control. Just one problem stood in my way: I wasn't totally convinced about success in the beginning. I had made these commitments to myself many times in the past. I wanted this time to be different. As it turned out, everything was to be amazingly different. For me the realization of the true feeling of absolute weight control arrived after three months of behavior modification. The realization was a very powerful feeling that came suddenly, emotionally, and allowed me to experience relief about my weight that I had never know before.
My daughter Courtney had come home from a break at college. Since she played field hockey for Northwestern University, she didn't get to come home often. She worked on her field hockey skills year-round. She was a first team high school All-American and eventually was honored with a second team All-Big Ten selection. We are very proud of her. When she was able to come home, it was a special occasion for everybody. One afternoon she wanted to go to the movies with me. It's a special treat for me when any of my five children ask me specifically to do something with them. I left work and off we went, just the two of us. (After reading this paragraph, my clever son Logan immediately smiled and said, "Dad, can we go to the movies?")
After just three months into the weight loss program, I was very proud of my 30 pound weight loss. I was successful so far, but I had a long way to go - another 110 pounds long way to go. The movie was entertaining enough, but what was extremely special about that day was the unexplainable feeling I had as we left the theater. The feeling that overcame me was life changing.
Allow me to back up a little. Before we left for the movie, I put three apples in my jacket pocket. (I know, I smuggled them in, but they didn't sell apples at the movies.) The calories from the apples had been calculated to be within the daily guidelines of the program. Rather than the large soft drink and large popcorn that I usually ate all by myself, I had three apples - three juicy, crunchy, wonderful apples. Each of the apples was quite a treat. It was when we left the movie that I was struck by an incredible awareness, a surreal feeling of power.
Without warning I felt a sudden change in my sense of self, coupled with a huge relief followed by a feeling of incredible elation. I wanted to scream with joy as we walked down the hallway to the exit. Back flips would have been appropriate. I think that the feeling overcame me because I suddenly realized that my struggle for weight control was over. No longer would I be "trying" to lose weight, I WOULD LOSE THE WEIGHT. I was in complete CONTROL. I had just defeated one of the strongest trigger events in my life, a trigger event that had been constantly defeating me. And it was not painful!
My perception about my weight loss had been suddenly, totally altered. Even though I was 30 pounds lighter and steadily losing weight, I had never experienced this elation. A foggy vision had suddenly become crystal clear. "This is too easy!" I thought. At that very special instant, I went from the concept of trying to lose weight to the realization that I had absolute power over weight control. I just do the behavior and the results must surely come.
Any concerns about my weight were instantly gone. I didn't worry about what I might eat. I didn't think about how I looked. I didn't care how others perceived the size of my body. And I certainly wasn't troubled that I had another 110 pounds to go before I reached my target weight. I knew in my heart that I was in control of my weight, in control of my situation and nothing would change that. I had never experienced a sense of such power about anything in my life. What a joyous experience it was! My behavior had been markedly altered forever and I knew it. This experience was the feeling of the "Elation of Jubilation."
It was only a matter of time before I reached my target weight that was "just another 110 pounds away." It could have been 200, 400 pounds or more. Weight was not the issue. Time was the only thing holding me back. I knew that as long as I focused on the behavior, the results would come. I knew this with my very being.
An immense calm and this exploding jubilation overwhelmed me instantaneously. What a relief! What a joy! I knew where I was going and I knew how to get there. I didn't have to starve myself and it didn't have to be painful! I just had to stay focused on the behavior. The journey would take care of itself. That was all there was to it! Do the behavior, the results will come!
It was like a severe toothache that had suddenly gone away. It was a feeling of calm, a feeling of relief. I felt the relief of a man standing before a firing squad only to receive a last second pardon. Control gives me the pardon from my weight concerns. Time became my friend that day because only TIME will take the weight away forever. Just stay focused on the behavior and time would do the rest. Time was on my side. Time will pass, I'll just be thinner then. It was just that easy.
For me that special day arrived three months into the program. Up to that point, I had already lost 30 painless pounds. However, until that wonderful moment, I had never felt the power of control. The doubt of my success that had always lurked in the back of my mind was now completely gone. I had never experienced the incredible joy from this power. NEVER. From that moment forward, I accepted that the next 110 pounds would be only a matter of time. The next 110 pounds would be "a piece of cake." I had mastered my weight. For the first time in over 35 years, my weight did not control me. There was no stopping me.
As Courtney and I walked out of the theater, I wanted to do back flips. I wanted to shout:
"FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I AM FREE AT LAST!"*
*These are words from an old spiritual song made immortal by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 - eleven days after my tenth birthday and less than 3 months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
This site is currently under development.
E-mail us if you would like to be automatically notified when the site becomes active.
©2010 www.BATLplan.com - All rights reserved
Other sites by John E. Strange, MD: Free Medical Courses
______________________________________________
The Elation of Jubilation
I remember the exact time when the elation of weight control first hit me. Although I am a medical doctor and should have known better, I had been overweight for over 35 years. Struggling with yo-yo diets throughout this period, I had convinced myself that "I didn't look too heavy," even though I was 140 pounds overweight. I found myself in deep denial. Denial is a defense mechanism where the body tricks you into ignoring what is obvious to everybody else. The powers of denial are strong. Medical doctors struggle with denial, too. I felt that I was "a little heavy," but I also believed that I didn't look "that bad." I was wrong on both counts. I was 5' 8" tall and weighed 310 pounds. I looked worse than bad, I looked like a round balloon. My kids call it my "balloon-man days."
My difficulties were always apparent to loved ones around me. When my oldest daughter, Sara, was young, I was teaching her how to play softball. I told her that if she was having difficulty with a skill to never to give up. I said that she made me proud when she tried hard, then tried again if she failed at something. She was six years old. One day she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Daddy, do you know what makes me the proudest of you? You try to lose weight. You never do, but you never give up." She understood the concept of never giving up. I was very pleased that she had grasped this notion of determination. Her grit has served her well over the years. Yet, I was distraught about my failures. How could she know that the very thing that made her the proudest made me so ashamed? That was in 1983.
My yo-yo struggle with weight continued for another 25 years. The weight gain didn't come all at once, but gradually. I often looked in the mirror and told myself something had to be done. That was usually the start of another yo-yo diet. I'd lose some weight. I'd gain some weight. I'd lose more weight. I'd gain it all back and more. Eventually I came to accept that I would always be "a little heavy." After all, through my eyes I didn't look "that bad." Denial became my ally. This defense mechanism allowed me see things differently from way they actually were. I weighed 310 pounds, I looked like a balloon, and I made jokes. I told people that THEY looked thin because they were standing next to me. I would tell people that I always ate healthy: "I ate healthy portions." I said that I was on a seafood diet: "I see food and I eat it." Sadly, that wasn't far from the truth. Shakespeare was right: "Many a truth are said in jest." Comedians say that there must be some truth in a joke for it to be funny. When I saw food I ate it - that was my reality. It wasn't funny. Choosing to eat all that I wanted gave me a sense of control. I felt that I was in control because I CHOSE to eat. Again, I was wrong.
Even though I became a type II diabetic and knew much better, I didn't monitor my blood sugar closely. It was deep denial that let me ignore this very important test. One day, however, I happened to check my blood sugar. It was so far out of normal that I was shocked. No, I was alarmed. Thank goodness for this very important wake up call! Thank goodness that the wake up call was not a heart attack, a stroke, or worse. Thank goodness that I had time to change my lifestyle before something really bad happened. I am so blessed. I can't begin to count the many ways. Someone is looking out for me.
I finally told myself that this weight problem had to stop. I simply had to come up with a way to beat the weight. This wasn't the first time that I had said that to myself. This time, however, would definitely be different. Sadly, I had said this before, too. Each time that I said it in the past, I truly believed it at the time. THIS TIME, I felt something different. THIS TIME, I just had to find the formula for success. I was convinced that this was my last chance at life. It probably was.
I remembered the lectures on nutrition that had been given in medical school. I started studying and reading about the theories of weight loss. I mixed in a lot of common sense with the knowledge. I sat down and wrote my BATL Plan based on behavior modification with a foundation of important medical concepts. Then, I followed my own BATL Plan and started on my weight loss journey. I knew it would be a very long road, which is the reason everybody is reluctant to seriously get started - especially when there is significant weight to lose. I knew that I must make the program enjoyable so that I would be motivated to stay on it, even after I had reached my weight goal.
As I developed the program, it was obvious that weight loss must come through behavior modification rather than through dieting. Only by changing behavior can yo-yo deiting be eliminated to keep the weight from coming back. The winning formula is very basic: Do the behavior, the results will come. This is just as true in any field of endeavor, as it is with weight loss. Only when we learn to change our behavior can we be in control of our results throughout a lifetime. This is the reason that diets ultimately fail. We don't learn anything from a diet. We look forward to the day that we are not on the diet. No, actually we yearn for the day that our diet is over. When our diet is over, after we have lost the weight, we simply go back to our weight-gaining denial-controlled ways. Most people celebrate with a large meal. The weight always comes back. This is yo-yo dieting at its finest.
The ultimate goal of my weight loss program is for other people to lose their excess weight and keep it off. If people gain back any of the weight that they have lost while on the program, I will have failed. I must convince others that keeping it off is key. I created a website to present the program - to help people in all parts of the world. www.BATLPlan.com was launched. This site is an online low-cost way that gently develops the BATL behavior modification program. Members receive weekly tips of weight loss, exercise, recipes, eating out advice, and more. Each week is designed as a motivational baby step towards weight control for life through behavior modification. BATL, pronounced "battle," is an acronym for Behavioral Adipose Tissue Loss. (Adiose tissue is the medical name for fat.)
I knew the behavior modification techniques and my increased knowledge would fuel my weight loss to ultimate lifetime control. Just one problem stood in my way: I wasn't totally convinced about success in the beginning. I had made these commitments to myself many times in the past. I wanted this time to be different. As it turned out, everything was to be amazingly different. For me the realization of the true feeling of absolute weight control arrived after three months of behavior modification. The realization was a very powerful feeling that came suddenly, emotionally, and allowed me to experience relief about my weight that I had never know before.
My daughter Courtney had come home from a break at college. Since she played field hockey for Northwestern University, she didn't get to come home often. She worked on her field hockey skills year-round. She was a first team high school All-American and eventually was honored with a second team All-Big Ten selection. We are very proud of her. When she was able to come home, it was a special occasion for everybody. One afternoon she wanted to go to the movies with me. It's a special treat for me when any of my five children ask me specifically to do something with them. I left work and off we went, just the two of us. (After reading this paragraph, my clever son Logan immediately smiled and said, "Dad, can we go to the movies?")
After just three months into the weight loss program, I was very proud of my 30 pound weight loss. I was successful so far, but I had a long way to go - another 110 pounds long way to go. The movie was entertaining enough, but what was extremely special about that day was the unexplainable feeling I had as we left the theater. The feeling that overcame me was life changing.
Allow me to back up a little. Before we left for the movie, I put three apples in my jacket pocket. (I know, I smuggled them in, but they didn't sell apples at the movies.) The calories from the apples had been calculated to be within the daily guidelines of the program. Rather than the large soft drink and large popcorn that I usually ate all by myself, I had three apples - three juicy, crunchy, wonderful apples. Each of the apples was quite a treat. It was when we left the movie that I was struck by an incredible awareness, a surreal feeling of power.
Without warning I felt a sudden change in my sense of self, coupled with a huge relief followed by a feeling of incredible elation. I wanted to scream with joy as we walked down the hallway to the exit. Back flips would have been appropriate. I think that the feeling overcame me because I suddenly realized that my struggle for weight control was over. No longer would I be "trying" to lose weight, I WOULD LOSE THE WEIGHT. I was in complete CONTROL. I had just defeated one of the strongest trigger events in my life, a trigger event that had been constantly defeating me. And it was not painful!
My perception about my weight loss had been suddenly, totally altered. Even though I was 30 pounds lighter and steadily losing weight, I had never experienced this elation. A foggy vision had suddenly become crystal clear. "This is too easy!" I thought. At that very special instant, I went from the concept of trying to lose weight to the realization that I had absolute power over weight control. I just do the behavior and the results must surely come.
Any concerns about my weight were instantly gone. I didn't worry about what I might eat. I didn't think about how I looked. I didn't care how others perceived the size of my body. And I certainly wasn't troubled that I had another 110 pounds to go before I reached my target weight. I knew in my heart that I was in control of my weight, in control of my situation and nothing would change that. I had never experienced a sense of such power about anything in my life. What a joyous experience it was! My behavior had been markedly altered forever and I knew it. This experience was the feeling of the "Elation of Jubilation."
It was only a matter of time before I reached my target weight that was "just another 110 pounds away." It could have been 200, 400 pounds or more. Weight was not the issue. Time was the only thing holding me back. I knew that as long as I focused on the behavior, the results would come. I knew this with my very being.
An immense calm and this exploding jubilation overwhelmed me instantaneously. What a relief! What a joy! I knew where I was going and I knew how to get there. I didn't have to starve myself and it didn't have to be painful! I just had to stay focused on the behavior. The journey would take care of itself. That was all there was to it! Do the behavior, the results will come!
It was like a severe toothache that had suddenly gone away. It was a feeling of calm, a feeling of relief. I felt the relief of a man standing before a firing squad only to receive a last second pardon. Control gives me the pardon from my weight concerns. Time became my friend that day because only TIME will take the weight away forever. Just stay focused on the behavior and time would do the rest. Time was on my side. Time will pass, I'll just be thinner then. It was just that easy.
For me that special day arrived three months into the program. Up to that point, I had already lost 30 painless pounds. However, until that wonderful moment, I had never felt the power of control. The doubt of my success that had always lurked in the back of my mind was now completely gone. I had never experienced the incredible joy from this power. NEVER. From that moment forward, I accepted that the next 110 pounds would be only a matter of time. The next 110 pounds would be "a piece of cake." I had mastered my weight. For the first time in over 35 years, my weight did not control me. There was no stopping me.
"FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I AM FREE AT LAST!"*
*These are words from an old spiritual song made immortal by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 - eleven days after my tenth birthday and less than 3 months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
This site is currently under development.
E-mail us if you would like to be automatically notified when the site becomes active.
©2010 www.BATLplan.com - All rights reserved
Other sites by John E. Strange, MD: Free Medical Courses