When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, Dr. Ali Zentner leads by example.
Eleven-and-a-half years ago, while completing her medical residency at the University of Calgary, she weighed in at 322 pounds. A poor diet and sedentary lifestyle had triggered pre-diabetes and borderline high blood pressure.
She knew she had to make some lifestyle changes.
Over the last decade, Zentner, now 40, has shed 175 pounds and is the healthiest she has ever been. She runs marathons, bikes to work and only eats out about once a week.
The doctor of internal medicine, specializing in cardiac risk management and obesity at Continuum Medical Care in West Vancouver, has appeared on the CBC show Village on a Diet.
She wants her own weight loss success to inspire her patients trying to get healthy.
"Being an example is probably one of the most important therapeutic tools that a physician can have," Zentner says. In turn, hearing about her patients' progress keeps her motivated to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Knowing what she knows, Zentner felt there was a hole in the weight loss section of the bookstore. Many diets imply a beginning, middle and end, and convey a "do this, don't do that" mentality, she says. It's a philosophy she disagrees with.
"I wanted a book that didn't advocate so much a diet, but advocated a real plan of how to make a lifestyle change," she says.
So, she wrote one.
In her new book, The Weight-loss Prescription, published in January by Penguin Books, Zentner identifies six basic "eating personalities" and suggests strategies to overcome common vices.
The "emotional eater" uses food as a crutch or a reward; the "calorie drinker" consumes most of their daily calories through fancy coffee, fruit juice and sugary beverages; the "fast food junkie" eats take-out and restaurant meals too often; the "all-or-nothing dieter" vacillates between food restriction and overindulgence; the "portion distorter" may or may not eat healthy, but eats too much; and the "sitting duck" is physically inactive.
Zentner says many people, including her former overweight self, fall into more than one category.
Although she says obesity is a disease influenced by genetics and physiology, she believes people have the power to change demotivating behaviour. For example, those who can't walk long distances due to arthritis might try swimming as an alternative form of exercise.
Learning from mistakes is also an important part of the weight loss process, Zentner says. That's especially applicable this time of year when many people's New Year's weight loss resolutions begin to wane.
"We all fall off track, it's very much a reality, and most importantly we all make mistakes," Zentner says. "If we allow for a sense of forgiveness within those errors then easily, and very seamlessly, that learning can happen."
Fortunately, Zentner has her patients to keep her on track. Every Tuesday and Thursday, even on the coldest and rainiest of nights after a full day of work, you can find her walking the seawall with a group of them.
"When you literally walk with your patients, they're far more motivated and inspired."
While she may not be overweight anymore, obesity is something Zentner knows she must cope with the rest of her life.
"It's like any chronic illness, whether it's diabetes or high blood pressure or heart disease. You don't get cured, but you do get managed."
