When you make a resolution every year and it fizzles out in a few days

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do people describe it when they come in?

They bought workout clothes, made a plan and even signed up — and quit within a few days. Several years like that have piled up.

They come in seeing themselves as people with weak willpower. Many bring that up first in the consultation room.

Why can't you keep it up for more than a few days?

If you start without looking at your body's condition, your body gives out first. Suddenly eating less and cramming in exercise you're not used to is a burden on the body in itself.

Especially if you start right away while short on sleep and with irregular mealtimes, your body can't adapt. When your energy is low, it's hard to keep going no matter how determined you are.

Then it turns into "I knew I couldn't do it," and that makes the next attempt even harder.

What do we look at?

We look at what your body can handle right now. We ask how much you sleep, when you eat your meals, and when in the day you feel most drained.

We also check body composition. Even at the same weight, someone with little muscle starts from a different place than someone without that issue.

We also look at swelling and digestion. If your face or legs are puffy in the morning and your stomach always feels bloated, your body feels heavy, and you naturally move less.

How do we treat it?

We don't start with eating less. We start by getting your sleep and mealtimes back on track and supporting your worn-out body.

We don't cut portions in half all at once. We have you eat three regular meals and adjust the amount little by little.

We also agree on drinking enough water. Water plays its part while the body is burning fat.

How did people do?

What changes first is the feeling that your body is less heavy. Then you naturally move more, and from there it gets easier to keep going.

We tell you this order in advance, because if your weight doesn't move much in the first few weeks, that doesn't mean it isn't working.

What are the limits of this approach?

Getting your body in order doesn't solve everything. Keeping it up is, in the end, something you do in your daily life.

We don't promise to take off a certain amount in a short time. Starting that way makes it easy to end up right back where you've been.

If you share the same concern

1. Quitting after a few days is often more about your body's condition than willpower.
2. Starting with disrupted sleep and mealtimes makes your body give out first.
3. We don't cut portions in half all at once.
4. If your weight doesn't move much in the first few weeks, that doesn't mean it isn't working.
5. We don't promise to take off a certain amount in a short time.

We don't look only at the number on the scale. Why the weight went up differs from person to person, so we start by finding that reason.

If you keep losing weight and gaining it back, come and see us. Before the number on the scale, we first look for why the weight went up. It's different for everyone.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.