Professional Development Resources Announces New Online Continuing Education Course on Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors in Weight Loss

    JACKSONVILLE, FL, October 16, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Professional Development Resources, a national provider of accredited continuing education units for psychologists, social workers, counselors, occupational therapists, and dietitians, has announced a new addition to its continuing education (CE) curriculum for health professionals: Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors. The course is authored by Dr. Robert E. Hardy, who has done many presentations and publications on eliminating self-defeating behaviors.

Despite all of the advice that's out there - not to mention all of the weight loss books, programs, and products - Americans are more overweight than at any time in history. What's going on? According to Dr. Hardy, we have misguided ideas about food and dieting. When he was struggling with his own weight issues years ago, he says the most sensible advice he got was also the simplest: to lose weight, you must burn off more calories than you consume. But even that wasn't the whole answer.

While it makes perfect sense physiologically, it doesn't acknowledge the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. It fails to address why we are tempted or compelled to eat, even when we are not hungry. Or why others may insist on feeding us, even when we don't need (or even want) food.

"The answers to those questions came from my lifelong work of helping others identify and eliminate what I call self-defeating behaviors (SDBs)," says Hardy. "SDBs are actions and attitudes that work against our own best interest--if we let them. Although I often lectured to audiences about how they could eliminate these counterproductive behaviors, I never took my own advice (at least as it pertained to my weight problem) until about ten years ago. When I finally decided it was time to rid myself of the excess pounds that were contributing to health problems and general dissatisfaction with my appearance, I soon learned that knowing how to create a calorie deficit was not enough. By doing some soul-searching and discovering the negative thought patterns (you guessed it - SDBs) that caused me to me to eat and avoid exercise, I was able to replace those patterns with more healthful attitudes and behaviors."

Hardy's course leads readers through the three steps that are necessary in using the eliminating self-defeating behaviors approach to weight loss:

1. Identify your SDBs. What are SDBs and how can you identify yours? Once you understand what they are, take an honest look at yourself and you'll probably identify at least a few you use either daily or in specific circumstances. If not, the course offers several other methods of uncovering your SDBs.

2. Analyze your SDBs. By better understanding SDBs, why and when you practice them, and how they can lead to the very consequences you're trying to avoid, you can begin the transition to healthy, positive (what I call life-giving) choices for your life.

3. Replace your SDBs. Simply eliminating SDBs can leave you with a void. By learning to replace SDBs with healthy, life-giving actions and attitudes, you'll be better prepared to deal with whatever life throws your way.

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a self-instructional module that "walks" readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the "burn more calories than you consume" concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, readers learn how to identify their self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change.

About Professional Development Resources, Inc.

Professional Development Resources is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1992 by licensed marriage and family therapist Leo Christie, PhD. The company, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) - as well as many other national and state boards - has focused its efforts on making accredited continuing education units more cost-effective and widely accessible to health professionals by offering online home study coursework. Its current expanded curriculum includes a wide variety of clinical topics intended to equip health professionals to offer state-of-the art services to their clients.

Contact:
Leo Christie, PhD, CEO
Professional Development Resources, Inc.
904-645-3456
http://www.pdresources.org/

Professional Development Resources, Inc. is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. Our mission is to provide busy health care professionals with accredited continuing education units on topics that are vital to contemporary clinical practice. In addition to our staff, we have a Professional Advisory Board consisting of accomplished professionals representing disciplines for which we offer our CEU credits. We are located in Jacksonville, Florida. Federal Tax ID 59-3138625.

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