Psychotherapist Vlad Titova: You can’t run into the forest from a midlife crisis. Vlada Titova - return to slimness A good mood is the key to a strong memory

Vlada Viktorovna Titova

Return to slimness

I gratefully dedicate this book to my teachers A.V. Bobrovsky, V.V. Romatsky, M.A. Gavrilov, as well as to all my patients who taught me a lot and continue to teach me

Introduction

I always knew which way was right. I always knew this for sure, but I never followed it. Do you know why? Because it was too difficult...

From the film "Scent of a Woman"

If you picked up this book, then there is a problem overweight familiar to you firsthand. A huge number of people around the world constantly monitor their weight, and many of them are in a constant struggle with extra pounds. People are not born fat; everyone dreams of returning to slimness.

And again an unequal struggle begins, either with oneself or with one’s body, which is accompanied by severe dietary restrictions up to complete starvation, debilitating physical activity and other sophisticated methods of self-torture and self-punishment for the fact that “there was no need to be corroded.”

And in the soul, in addition to resentment and self-pity (“Why am I being punished like this? Others eat more than I do, but, as they say, it’s not the horse’s food... I can’t limit myself all my life...”), irritation or aversion to your reflection in the mirror instills fear. After all, all this has already happened in their lives and, most likely, more than once: the result achieved at such a heavy price could not be preserved. In the most unpleasant cases, despair comes along with fear, and one gives up, the weight is allowed to take its course. The consequences of this are very predictable...

But all the same, sooner or later, as if waking up from oblivion, such a person understands: he needs to lose weight. And again, “torture” with food restrictions, exercise until the point of insanity, resentment and self-pity, and a soul-chilling fear that all this will be in vain.

Why is this happening? Why do many people manage to achieve good results in losing weight, but rarely do anyone manage to maintain it? required weight for life? Is it really impossible to resist stress eating or the temptation of food? Is it possible to lose weight without self-torture and constant feeling hunger? And how to consolidate the achieved result so that the lost kilograms do not return?

You will find answers to these and many other questions in this book, which contains the most effective practical recommendations and techniques that summarize my twelve years of experience working with overweight patients. I will be happy to share with you the medical, psychological and nutritional knowledge that has already helped more than two thousand people lose weight and free themselves from excess weight in the body and soul.

Let this book be for you a professional navigator on the way to the figure of your dreams, which will promptly warn you about dangerous sections of the road, lurking obstacles and limiting beliefs. Let your meeting with yourself turn into an exciting adventure. Well, all I can do is wish you a happy journey!

With respect and gratitude, Vlada Titova

Individual diagnosis of the causes of excess weight

In front of you is a man suffering from stomach pain. His limbs feel like they're filled with lead. His belly ripples under your fingers. And then you tell the patient: you are exhausted from food!

Egyptian Book of the Belly

Eliminate the cause, then the disease will go away.

Hippocrates, 5th century BC e.

All possible reasons excess weight can be divided into three fundamentally different groups: biological, psychological and social reasons . They are found in different combinations and not only contribute to the set excess weight, but also often prevent its reduction or maintenance achieved result. Getting started with diagnostics own reasons, please note that none of the things listed below, even those burdened by heredity, are an irreversible sentence on the path to achieving harmony. So, let's start diagnostics.

Biological causes of excess weight

First group – biological reasons. These include:

♦ heredity;

♦ overeating;

♦ physical inactivity;

♦ metabolism;

♦ stomach volume;

♦ endocrine disorders.

Let's look at them in order.

Heredity

It's no secret that from parents with overweight children are often prone to obesity, and sometimes this trend can be traced across a whole series of generations. Paying attention to this fact, scientists have identified a number of genetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of the amount of fat reserves. This is an obesity gene (ob-gene - from the English obesity - “fatness”), which causes the production of a specific protein leptin by fat cells; individual characteristics constitution of adipose tissue; genetically determined metabolic rate and intensity; hormonal regulation processes of formation and breakdown of fat (scientifically called lipogenesis and lipolysis); features of the functioning of the hunger and appetite centers in a special part of the brain - the hypothalamus.

The type of body constitution also has an innate character: someone was born a fragile asthenic (usually tall and thin), someone was normosthenic, and someone from birth was destined to become a hypersthenic - a person with a high predisposition to be overweight. It would seem that the factors described above leave no chance for those who are “unlucky with their genes” to lose weight. However, scientists, fortunately, claim that this is absolutely not the case. It turns out that the key role in recruiting extra pounds It is not heredity that plays a role, but banal overeating, especially against the background sedentary lifestyle life. So, dear readers, from now on, excuses like “I’ve been fat since birth, I’m unlucky with heredity, so I can’t lose weight” are no longer accepted. In my practice, there were many people who, despite their heredity, lost weight perfectly: some twenty kilograms, some forty, and two people lost as much as seventy-five!

The exhausting conflict between “I want” and “can” or “I want” and “should” is typical for a resident of a metropolis. Chronic stress can bring a city dweller to the brink of nervousness and physical exhaustion. However, he is in no hurry to go with them to see a psychotherapist - this is not in our tradition.

How to turn an elephant into a fly

And in vain, experts say. If we inflate our problems from a molehill to the size of an elephant, then a psychotherapist is quite capable of helping to turn this elephant back into a fly.

— People are often afraid to turn to psychotherapists and psychologists, fearing that this will necessarily be followed by a diagnosis and registration. All specialists whose names begin with “psycho”, in our mentality, are firmly associated with psychiatry, shrouded in terrible myths. Therefore many long time“They are left alone with their unresolved problems and fears,” says psychotherapist Vlada Titova. - But we are ready for an anonymous telephone conversation with a specialist.

Stories worthy of a novel

Petersburgers know Vlada Viktorovna from television - her midnight “Hour of Psychotherapist” on “100TV” is so popular that the channel decided to expand the format of these conversations. Now one hour has turned into an entire night shift and has just started airing under the name “Helpline”.

“However, not all stories can be voiced on air,” emphasizes Vlada Titova. — There are too sharp, personal things. Sometimes we enter that zone of intimacy that should not be known to anyone except those participating in this confession.

Vlada Titova will answer your questions.

Women and men suffer differently

— Working on a new project, we will be able to create a portrait psychological problems that concern the residents of the metropolis,” shares Vlada Viktorovna. - Although, of course, we still see a trend recent years: All more people are in a state of chronic stress. They do not have time to adapt to rapidly changing living conditions.

Women most often suffer, torn between desires and a sense of duty to their family. Men are exhausted by professional and career inconsistency.

— The higher social status men, the more often they turn to a psychotherapist,” notes Vlada Titova. “They suffer from fatigue, from a constant problem of choice, from professional burnout. Meanwhile, chronic stress can bring a person to the brink of physical exhaustion and lead, for example, to cardiovascular diseases. And to prevent this, sometimes it is enough to look at the problem from the outside and solve it with the help of a specialist.

And run to the doctor!

— And in what situations do we urgently need to run to a psychotherapist, no longer relying on our common sense? — I ask Vlada Titova.

“You cannot do without the help of a specialist if suicidal thoughts appear or a state of anxiety or depressed mood lasts more than two weeks in a row,” lists Vlada Viktorovna. - If you cannot fall asleep without the help of sedatives or notice that your memory has sharply deteriorated. If you have lost your appetite and are rapidly losing weight. Especially if symptoms and signs appeared that were not there before. For example, panic attack- state acute attack fear that can overtake a person, say, in the subway. And don’t delay visiting a specialist if you notice any kind of addiction, from alcohol to gambling.

Good mood- the key to a strong memory

Vlad Titov gives readers of “Evening Petersburg” several practical recommendations that will be useful not only to applicants or students, but also to anyone who wants to stay sane longer.

• At the very beginning, a clear and attractive goal must be set: why you need to remember this material.

• Once you, wanting to remember something, have formulated a goal, why you need it and how you want to apply it, forget about it and switch all your attention and your mind exclusively to the process of immersion in the material being studied.

• Stop thinking about the result - this will relieve you of the stress of expectation, anxiety and fear, as well as the so-called mental traps: when you think about how you will speak, how you will look and how others will evaluate you. Let the mind be occupied only with memorization.

• For quick and high-quality memorization there must be good physical state: don't forget about full sleep and rest (take breaks at least once every 45 - 60 minutes, because attention is depleted).

• A good mood is the key to learning everything faster.

• Be sure to make a plan for what you plan to teach.

• Select support points according to their meaning.

• Repetition of material is very important, especially in the first few hours. There is even a special law in psychology: you need to repeat it after 30 minutes, then after an hour, 1.5 hours, etc. And it’s even better if what you’ve already learned and repeated, you somehow put into practice.

• If you read aloud, speak and write down what you learn, you have a much greater chance of remembering it faster and better.

• There is a so-called edge effect: what is memorized best is what was learned at the very beginning and at the end.

• Rhymed information is absorbed better: that’s why it’s easiest to learn poetry.

• Make notes, drawings in the margins, diagrams, highlight the most important things in the text with a special color. There is an interesting trick: making notes with your left hand.

• One of the best mnemonic techniques is memorization by association: you can imagine images that are somewhat similar to what you want to remember (associations by similarity), or revive some connections in your memory (for example, an old house- first teacher) - these are the so-called related associations, or you can imagine an association that is completely illogical, opposite to what you teach, but bright or funny (associations by contrast).

• Another technique is to superimpose new material on a familiar route: for example, you walk from the metro station to your house and “place” new information at each step. Or you go to the store and want to remember the list necessary products. To do this, you need to present them in a familiar environment: for example, in the hallway - butter smeared on the door, the loaf is hanging in a string bag on a hanger, etc.

• If you need to learn a lot, use a reward system: give yourself small pleasant pleasures for each completed stage.

• During the memorization period, do not drink alcohol under any circumstances: it sharply worsens memory functions.

• If you are an applicant or student, be sure to write cheat sheets and take them with you: this will help you calm down and feel more confident even if you don’t use them.

Vlada Titova - psychotherapist, psychiatrist, narcologist, candidate medical sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical Academy. Since 2007, he has acted as a hotline consultant on TV programs “ Women's logic", "Hour of the Psychotherapist" on the nightly information and journalistic channel "FM TV". Since September 2009, she has been the host of the “Island of Hope” program on the 100TV channel.

The boundaries of the “Psychotherapist Hour” program are expanding in a new project called “Help Line,” which aired this week. Moreover, this is no longer an hour-long conversation, but a daily night shift.

Vlada Titova is no longer alone on air. The program will be led by her colleagues one by one, and we will be able to meet psychotherapists and psychologists of different directions. Third innovation - hotline behind the scenes, intended to discuss those issues that should not be put on public display. Simultaneously with the TV presenter, three highly qualified psychologists and psychotherapists will receive calls from viewers. Night shift starts at midnight and will initially end at two in the morning, and then it is planned to expand it until the morning. Therefore, anyone can easily call and get help.

Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric medical university

Work experience in psychotherapy since 1998.

Education and activities:

• In 2004, at the Research Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology named after. V.M. Bekhtereva defended her PhD thesis on the topic: “Group psychotherapy for patients with heroin addiction.”
• From 2005 to 2007 she worked as an assistant at the Department of Psychotherapy of the State Educational Institution of Further Professional Education of St. Petersburg Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education.
• From 2005 to 2008, expert on psychotherapy on the city TV channel (Channel 5), author and presenter of a weekly live column in the program “Morning in big city", expert of the programs "Women's Evening on the Fifth" and "Life as Life" with Tatyana Ustinova.
• From 2007 to the present - Associate Professor of the Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University.
• From 2007 to 2013 - author and presenter of the programs “The Hour of the Psychotherapist”, “Island of Hope” on weekly live TV and radio broadcasts on the city TV channel TV100.
• In 2007-2009 worked as a leading psychotherapist at the VIP weight loss clinic “Doctor Bormental” (Moscow, St. Petersburg).
• From 2009 to the present - psychotherapist at the St. Petersburg clinic "RAMI".
• In April 2010, the FM-TV project, which includes the programs “Hour of the Psychotherapist” and “Island of Hope,” was awarded the TEFI Award in the category “Best Information and Entertainment Program in Russia.”
• In July 2012, she received a European certificate of psychotherapist and became a member of the European Association of Psychotherapy.
• In July 2013, she received a certificate of professional recognition from the World Council for Psychotherapy.
• In October 2017, she received patent for invention No. 2632777 “Method for weight loss” (co-authored with D.N. Chugunov)

During her time as a doctor, she completed more than 10 advanced training courses in psychotherapy, psychiatry, narcology, medical psychology, pedagogy and evidence-based medicine, and more than 20 advanced training courses at author’s seminars and ten-day courses in psychotherapy and psychology.

Vlada Viktorovna Titova

Return to slimness

I gratefully dedicate this book to my teachers A.V. Bobrovsky, V.V. Romatsky, M.A. Gavrilov, as well as to all my patients who taught me a lot and continue to teach me

Introduction

I always knew which way was right. I always knew this for sure, but I never followed it. Do you know why? Because it was too difficult...

From the film "Scent of a Woman"

If you picked up this book, it means that you are familiar with the problem of excess weight firsthand. A huge number of people around the world constantly monitor their weight, and many of them are in a constant struggle with extra pounds. People are not born fat; everyone dreams of returning to slimness.

And again an unequal struggle begins, either with oneself or with one’s body, which is accompanied by severe dietary restrictions up to complete starvation, grueling physical activity and other sophisticated methods of self-torture and self-punishment for the fact that “there was no need to eat up.”

And in the soul, in addition to resentment and self-pity (“Why am I being punished like this? Others eat more than I do, but, as they say, it’s not the horse’s food... I can’t limit myself all my life...”), irritation or aversion to your reflection in the mirror instills fear. After all, all this has already happened in their lives and, most likely, more than once: the result achieved at such a heavy price could not be preserved. In the most unpleasant cases, despair comes along with fear, and one gives up, the weight is allowed to take its course. The consequences of this are very predictable...

But all the same, sooner or later, as if waking up from oblivion, such a person understands: he needs to lose weight. And again, “torture” with food restrictions, exercise until the point of insanity, resentment and self-pity, and a soul-chilling fear that all this will be in vain.

Why is this happening? Why do many people manage to achieve good results in losing weight, but few manage to maintain the desired weight for life? Is it really impossible to resist stress eating or the temptation of food? Is it possible to lose weight without self-torture and constant feeling of hunger? And how to consolidate the achieved result so that the lost kilograms do not return?

You will find answers to these and many other questions in this book, which contains the most effective practical recommendations and techniques that summarize my twelve years of experience working with overweight patients. I will be happy to share with you the medical, psychological and nutritional knowledge that has already helped more than two thousand people lose weight and free themselves from excess weight in the body and soul.

Let this book be for you a professional navigator on the way to the figure of your dreams, which will promptly warn you about dangerous sections of the road, lurking obstacles and limiting beliefs. Let your meeting with yourself turn into an exciting adventure. Well, all I can do is wish you a happy journey!

With respect and gratitude, Vlada Titova

Individual diagnosis of the causes of excess weight

In front of you is a man suffering from stomach pain. His limbs feel like they're filled with lead. His belly ripples under your fingers. And then you tell the patient: you are exhausted from food!

Egyptian Book of the Belly

Eliminate the cause, then the disease will go away.

Hippocrates, 5th century BC e.

All possible causes of excess weight can be divided into three fundamentally different groups: biological, psychological and social reasons. They are found in different combinations and not only contribute to excess weight gain, but also often prevent it from being lost or maintaining the achieved result. When starting to diagnose your own reasons, pay attention to the fact that none of the listed below, even burdened by heredity, is an irreversible sentence on the path to achieving harmony. So, let's start diagnostics.

Biological causes of excess weight

First group – biological reasons. These include:

♦ heredity;

♦ overeating;

♦ physical inactivity;

♦ metabolism;

♦ stomach volume;

♦ endocrine disorders.

Let's look at them in order.

Heredity

It's no secret that Overweight parents often have overweight children, and sometimes this trend can be traced across a whole series of generations. Paying attention to this fact, scientists have identified a number of genetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of the amount of fat reserves. This is an obesity gene (ob-gene - from the English obesity - “fatness”), which causes the production of a specific protein leptin by fat cells; individual characteristics of the constitution of adipose tissue; genetically determined metabolic rate and intensity; hormonal regulation of the processes of formation and breakdown of fat (scientifically - lipogenesis and lipolysis); features of the functioning of the hunger and appetite centers in a special part of the brain - the hypothalamus.

The type of body constitution also has an innate character: someone was born a fragile asthenic (usually tall and thin), someone was normosthenic, and someone from birth was destined to become a hypersthenic - a person with a high predisposition to be overweight. It would seem that the factors described above leave no chance for those who are “unlucky with their genes” to lose weight. However, scientists, fortunately, claim that this is absolutely not the case. It turns out that the key role in gaining extra pounds is not played by heredity, but by banal overeating, especially against the backdrop of a sedentary lifestyle. So, dear readers, from now on, excuses like “I’ve been fat since birth, I’m unlucky with heredity, so I can’t lose weight” are no longer accepted. In my practice, there were many people who, despite their heredity, lost weight perfectly: some twenty kilograms, some forty, and two people lost as much as seventy-five!

Binge eating

In fact, this is the main factor leading to obesity. However, it is not necessary to use large quantity food. Many overweight people honestly say that they eat very little and rarely. So what's the deal? Let's figure it out. You probably remember the law of conservation of energy from your school physics course. To maintain a stable body weight, the energy entering the body with food must be equal to the energy expended on the body’s vital functions.

All our energy costs are made up of three components: basal metabolism, food thermogenesis, energy costs for physical work, intellectual activity and emotions. Basic metabolism is the maintenance of breathing, blood pressure, work of the heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and other organs and systems in a state of complete rest at a comfortable temperature. Basic metabolism accounts for about 60–70% of all energy expenditure. Food thermogenesis is the expenditure of energy on the digestion of food; with three meals a day, it accounts for on average up to 15% of energy expenditure.

✓ Remember: The more often you eat, the more energy you burn through nutritional thermogenesis.

The third item of energy consumption of our body is directly related to the level physical activity, which people with overweight the body often leaves much to be desired, since, unfortunately, very little energy is spent on intellectual work or emotions.

Now let's think about what will happen if more energy than necessary is regularly supplied to the body through food. That's right, all excess will be stored in the form of fat reserves. You may ask why the body acts so “unreasonably”, to its own detriment - after all, it would be possible to put aside reserves, for example, of protein or carbohydrates, rather than fat.

But everything is explained very simply: the ability to accumulate fat in fat cells is the most important mechanism for survival and procreation, which was fixed during the process of evolution at the genetic level. In conditions of famine, when the body needs to live as long as possible, the breakdown of 1 gram of fat releases 9.1 kilocalories of energy, and the breakdown of 1 gram of carbohydrate or protein releases almost half as much. So the body accumulates fat, creating a powerful supply of energy.