It is not "do or die" It is do or do not, then do again and again and again for the next 40 years, then die.
I think people (certainly me in the past) set themselves up for failure right out of the blocks by the way they go about losing weight. They make all sorts of grand resolves. They are sick and tired of being fat and "ready to get serious!!!!" They write impassioned first diary entries outlining Herculean diet and workout regimens. At first they lose a few pounds as if to validate their new lifestyle choices and in a couple of days or weeks, poof! They're gone.
They wanted too much, too soon! They were willing to work their asses off (literally) as long as they saw clear results. When that at some point failed the whole idea gets pitched in the bin and they overeat with the same abandon and gain back all they lost and more. It is binary thinking, I'm either "all in" or "all out" and it's all wrong.
Did you ever steer a really big boat? Small adjustments to the rudder begin small changes in bearing over time and distance. Eventually you change course. I think weight loss has to be like that.
Small changes, made over the long term. Changing incrementally the way you think about eating and exercise, learning bit by bit to enjoy a healthy lifestyle forever, rather than to force a huge lifestyle shift all at once upon yourself that you can sustain only until the burden becomes too great and you falter.
I think the biggest pitfall people face is the idea that weight loss is a linear progression. You change your lifestyle, you lose a bunch of weight, you're thin and all of your dreams come true!
It's not that way. We are involved in a complex partnership between our mind and our body. Our weight responds dynamically to the way we live in our environment. We behave in that environment, eating and moving, based on the way we feel physically and emotionally. How we feel physically is based on how we feed ourselves and exercise. It is a big circle. Weight loss is not linear, it is a log roll! And for some of us, we're in the water more often than not, because we fail to achieve the balance and rhythm necessary to stay on the log. Stop moving, and you get wet in a hurry.
Let's see, are there any other weird analogies I can work in here? Nope, that's enough for now.
David C
