Hello folks
It's a time of year when a lot of new people join us, so welcome to all of you.
Since I have been struggling with a partial regain I've been reading back over my old posts from the first time I reached the weight I am at now, 3+ years ago, and refreshing my memory on some of what I learned during that process. This is a long post (mine usually are
) but I wanted to share a theme I encountered over and over again in my old posts:
patience.
For those of you staring down the barrel of a large amount of weight to lose - I won't put a number on it here, because whatever you have to lose probably feels like a large amount to you - I want to urge you to be patient with your process and take a long-term view.
By patience I mean a few different things:
* Not giving up because you're "only" losing a pound a week or some other number that seems small to you. I urge you to turn this around. Suppose you gained a pound a week for a year. Imagine yourself waking up on January 1, 2016, weighing 50 pounds more than you do today. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot of weight to put on in a year? It is. And since losing is much, much harder than gaining, it's an even more staggering amount of weight to lose in a year. So don't knock that "only a pound a week."
* Not giving up because you didn't lose any weight some particular week. As much as we want our body weight to march cooperatively downward week after week after week, our bodies don't work like this. There are so many factors that contribute to your body weight on any given day. Exercise, hormones, sickness, medication, even weather can all cause you to retain or release fluids. Food sits undigested in your body. These can cause fluctuations in your weight that can easily mask a couple of weeks' worth of fat loss. When your weight stays the same or even bounces up by a pound or two, trust your plan and give it time. Weight loss progress has to be measured in months, not weeks.
* Not giving up because you went off plan. Weight loss success is about consistency, not perfection. Nearly everyone goes off plan sometimes. I know for sure that I did while I was losing the bulk of my weight. The key is to get back on plan with the very next bite of food - not tomorrow, not Monday, not the first of the month, but right now. Be patient with yourself, as well as your plan. Your body is more forgiving than you think - one day of overeating will not cause all the fat you lost to magically reattach to your body. When you take a longer-term view it becomes easier to put those small slips into perspective.
* Not giving up because it's going to take a year or two years or three years at your current rate of loss. First, think about how quickly the last year has gone by. The older I get, the quicker I find time goes by. A year from now feels like a long time, but a year ago feels like yesterday. The time will pass either way - you may as well spend it losing weight.
Second, you do not have to get all the way to your goal weight to start accruing the benefits of losing weight. It took me three years to lose 120 pounds but I started feeling noticeably better about 40 pounds in, and 75 pounds in I felt like a recharged person - stronger, more energetic, more stamina. You do not have to get all the way to your ultimate goal (whatever that may be) before you start benefiting from the hard work you are doing for yourself.
I am not a patient person by nature, believe me. And yet during the three years it took me to lose 120 pounds, I learned a lot about how to be patient, and it was one of the key attitude adjustment that brought me success.
For those of you who have lost a lot of weight already, how has patience figured into your process? Have you had any surprises about yourself and your ability to be patient?
And for those of you are new, good luck and good strength. You can do this!
A few thoughts on patience for the new year
What a lovely post. Patience is something I struggle with deeply. But you are right patience is the key to success for sure.
Appreciate the time you took to post this. I do the whole "only" a pound a week think. I don't do it intentionally.. I even type it without much thought.. you're right though. It adds up to a lot and it's not really "only" at all.
Can I steal this?? Brilliantly and succinctly stated.
